hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm ben brown. today at 2pm. the former russian spy who's a suspected victim of poisoning in salisbury — it's emerged the woman areas ergund the insistent, " ' " "' " what was necessary if russia is found to be involved. i can reassure the house that should evidence emerge that state state responsibility then her majesty's government will respond appropriately and robustly. north korea's leader, kimjong—un, says he will discuss giving up his nuclear weapons — as long as there is no military threat to his state. britain should go on a diet — health officials urge food manufacturers to cut the calories in their products. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport — olly foster. olly, we have heard

from sir bradley wiggins and now lord coe has given his response to the doping report. yes, in the last half an hour or so. he was accused of misleading a committee regarding what he knew about russian doping in the past. he maintains that he knew nothing. thanks olly, and matt taylor has all the weather. this was the scene and parts of northern scotland. for others the spring sunshine has broken through the cloud. thanks matt. also coming up — as former bbc breakfast presenter bill turnbull reveals he's been diagnosed with prostate cancer — he urges other men not to ignore the symptoms. hello everyone — this is afternoon live.

i'm ben brown. the foreign secretary borisjohnson says the uk will respond "robustly" — if there's any evidence of russian involvement in the collapse of a former spy and his daughter. sergei skripal was found slumped on a bench in the city centre on sunday, alongside 33—year—old yulia skripal. wiltshire police say both remain in a critical condition in intensive care, after being treated for suspected exposure to an unknown substance. a restaurant and a pub in salisbury have been cordoned off, and one member of the emergency services is also still in hospital. there was a man slumped being sick.

there was a man slumped being sick. there was a woman but i could not see her, they were paramedics arrived. the man has a complex past. he was spying for the west before coming to the uk. today police have focused on the area outside a shopping centre where he and his daughter were found unconscious. they have said emergencies services personnel were taken for assessment afterwards. all but one has been released. wiltshire police are still trying to establish whether a crime has been committed here but they are being supported by counterterror officers. the critical thing is to get to the bottom of what is causing this as quickly as possible. as you would expect, the specialist resources but i coordinate across

the country, we are working with vulture poised to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible. tracing the bear‘s movements as a priority. after turning off the area, police then phoned —— secured this restaurant as a precaution. today they said this pub in the centre of salisbury had also been sealed off. sergei skripal and yulia skripal are in sealed off. sergei skripal and yulia skripalare ina sealed off. sergei skripal and yulia skripal are in a serious condition. public health england has stressed there is no wider health risk from there is no wider health risk from the incident. but parallels with the 2006 poisoning off alexander litvenenko are hard to ignore. a russian dissident, he was poisoned in london weather radioactive compound. an enquiry said he was probably murdered by the kremlin. the russian embassy today complained of speculative stories which it said we re of speculative stories which it said were demonising russia. but the government has now put moscow on notice. while it would be wrong to

prejudge the investigation, i can reassure the host that should evidence emerged that implies state responsibility, then her majesty ‘s government will respond appropriately and robustly. the first pictures have no emerged of 33—year—old yulia skripal who was visiting her father from 33—year—old yulia skripal who was visiting herfatherfrom russia when they fell ill. they maybe it will to shed light what happened to them on sunday but they remain gravely ill. we can now speak to our correspondent leila nathoo who's in salisbury. what is the latest beer? you can see behind me that there is quite big police presence at the shopping precinct where the two were found on sunday. there has been limited police activity compared to last night when i saw police errors in protective suits and gas masks searching through ben and taking things out first samples. today there has been a big police presence

here, there is a chord and around the shopping precinct. there is a tent above the bench where the two we re tent above the bench where the two were found. really we have had more information from the police on this investigation. they are still proceeding at a long this assumption this is an unknown substance. still trying to find out whether a crime has been committed at all and still working to find out how surrogate and his daughter yulia came to be found unconscious on that bench. —— sergei skripal. we are expecting to hear more from police later this afternoon. there are sites around salisbury which remain an interest to the police. there is a restaurant and a pub nearby. we are expecting to hearan and a pub nearby. we are expecting to hear an update on the investigation a little later this afternoon. for the moment, thank you very much indeed. well the kremlin says it is willing to co—operate in the police investigation but says russia has

"no information" on what could have caused the incident. officials are stressing that it's too early to speculate on what happened in salisbury. richard galpin takes at any motives there might have been. sergei skripal and daughter yulia now fighting for their lives. the only russians in britain who may have been targeted for assassination by moscow. they may not be the only russians in britain who may have been targeted for assassination by moscow. it was proved the former spy, alexander litvinenko was poisoned by radioactive polonium in london 12 years ago. and an inquest is continuing into the mysterious death in surrey of this whistle—blower, aleksander perepilichny. this is the moment in 2004 when sergei skripal was arrested in russia for betraying his country. he was a military intelligence officer who had been secretly supplying mi6 with information and was convicted for high treason. but after several years in prison he was pardoned and was able to fly to britain as part of a spy swap.

but that was never a guarantee he would be safe here. the fact that he was a british spy, a former member of the russian military in most russian‘s minds actually, he would be categorised as a traitor. so yes there would be people there who will be delighted to see him dead. from the kremlin today a guarded response. it said what had happened was a tragedy and it was open to co—operating with the british authorities. but for many russians living here in the uk who oppose the kremlin, it has been clear for a long time that they are vulnerable and they want greater protection. we need to be sure people recieving political asylum here are completely safe and the state providing this asylum need to be more serious and in particular now after what happened to this sergei skripal and his friend or partner.

meanwhile, back in moscow, vladimir putin is almost guaranteed to win yet another term in office in the presidential election later this month. the british enquiry into the death of alexander litvenenko concluded that mr putin probably ordered the assassination, something which the kremlin denies. the question now is whether there has been another killing in this country ordered by the russian state. we can speak to our political correspondent vicki young. the foreign secretary talking tough in the commons about russia earlier run. that is right. he was asked to do and so this urgent question. his argument is that the uk is in the front line to standing up to russia with sanctions, calling them out

over their activities. he said that if it was proven that russia was behind this, then there would be a robust response from the uk government. but many mps were troubled by what they suspect has happened in this case but also quite critical of the government saying that actually they have not been doing enough. then the foreign secretary did raise the prospect of another way to punish russia, talking about the football world cup later this year. i think we will have to have a serious conversation with our engagement with russia. it will be difficult to see how we can, thinking ahead to the world cup this july, this summer, i think it would be very difficult to imagine a uk representation at that event could go ahead in the normal way. we would have to consider that. after that, boris johnson's have to consider that. after that, borisjohnson‘s officials have to consider that. after that, boris johnson's officials did clarify the comment. when he is

talking about uk representation he was not talking about the england football team, but dignitaries or ministers. what has happened in the past, normal representation when a minister or ambassador may attend a sporting event, that that may not happen. if it is proven that russia is behind what has happened in salisbury. let's discuss this more, iamjoined by salisbury. let's discuss this more, i am joined by mr bryant. what do you think of what mrjohnson had to say? he said the uk would respond robustly, that we are at the forefront of standing up to russia. i think boris gave written away by what he said about the football which is no ben have retracted. this is not being consistent and robust enough. they do not do enough preparation beforehand. over the la st preparation beforehand. over the last few years, to be 's army was personal the reluctant to allow a foot ball personal the reluctant to allow a football enquiry into the death of alexander litvenenko, it two use her to agree to it. she said that she

thought the kremlin may misinterpret it. when the alexander litvenenko enquiry found that president putin had personally ordered the murder of alexander litvenenko, the british government did nothing. they said they have put sanctions against people who are close to him. that they are at the forefront of it. sorry, those sanctions had nothing to do with the alexander litvenenko case. they were to do with the situation in ukraine and the annexation of crimea. my anxiety is that what happens with this government, it is constantly running behind what i think is a clear message that we need to shout out, which is that president putin's re cord which is that president putin's record is clear, he always resorts to excessive violence. in the moscow theatre, in chechnya, with the arrest and torture of many homosexuals, in the murdering of

journalists, in so many instances. and britain keeps on being complacent and trying to calm things down rather than... it is complacent and trying to calm things down rather than. .. it is diplomacy to some extent. what do you think that the government could do that could have an impact on president putin? i have been calling for many years for the government to agree, lots of conservative mps agree to, we should have a proper list of people who are banned from coming into this country because they were involved in that murder or in the fraud that he unveiled. i am certain that some of those people are still getting into this country. secondly, the government should make available to all inquests in relation to circumstances —— suspicious circumstances, so that we can get to the bottom of it. i noted... there are many people that think that over the last few years there have been 14 suspicious deaths that have been written off by the police of

suicide. i suspect that if a fuller investigation were done, and this is what the american secret service to us what the american secret service to us now, there would be more to find out and we may have fingers divide. we cannot allow russian nationals or any other nationals to be murdered on british soil. you think security committee is the right place to do that. we have spoken about 14 other cases, several mps raised by today in the commons. the government has to keep certain things under wraps because they do not want to reveal their sources. but i do not think too often what has happened, the authorities in this country are gone, authorities in this country are o authorities in this country are gone, we want to do more financial deals, more trade deals with russia, so deals, more trade deals with russia, so let's put this on the back burner. it does not work with president putin. what dictators learn, and what we learned in the 19305, learn, and what we learned in the 1930s, what you learn is if you make threats and do not follow them up, and if they are then allowed to get

away with murder, is that i might as well do it again. thank you very much indeed. boris johnson, well do it again. thank you very much indeed. borisjohnson, the foreign secretary, when presented with that kind of argument this afternoon, said that other countries where happy to turn up wind eye, but britain was not. let's talk to daniel sandford. this isa let's talk to daniel sandford. this is a statement from the metropolitan police counterterrorism command in which they say the counterterrorism policing network is now going to ta ke policing network is now going to take over this investigation. they are not saying they are doing that because it has been declared as a formal terrorist incident, which would be the case if it was believed somebody had been assassinated. but because of the unusual circumstances in this case. those of course being the fact that a former russian spy

and his daughter fell very ill very quickly in a matter of minutes. in salisbury city centre and were found ina salisbury city centre and were found in a catatonic state on a bench after half an hour or so after being seen walking arm in arm down the street. so counterterrorism police are taking over the investigation. it will be a joint investigation which will take place between the metropolitan police and another agency. they are appealing for anyone to come forward with any information they have. what we are seeing is a direction of travel towards what we saw in the alexander litvenenko case. it starts off as being a police investigation, counterterrorism police getting involved. of course the key thing that everybody is still waiting for is the toxicology. what is it? what is the substance that caused sergei skripal and his daughter so quickly to become so very unwell. with the

network have been involved unofficially from the beginning or is this a new, is than coming into something new? i think gradual involvement. first of all you would have had the local police and the involvement of specialists when it became concerned about what sort of substance was involved. support from the south east counterterrorism unit which was confirmed this morning by the head of counterterrorism policing, and no, rather than supporting watcher police, they are essentially taking it over from wiltshire police. but this is turning into a specialist investigation with possible extreme international implications. somebody who has been apparently made very ill by an unknown substance with concerns of a foreign power might have been involved. that is why it stops being a matterfor local police and becomes a matter for

counterterrorism police. we will get a statement at three o'clock wiltshire police. you were talking about porton down and the examination of what exactly this substances. we have had a statement from them. confirming they are testing samples of the substance, not yet confirming what it is. but clearly their expertise is key in this? you have got to parallel things going on. you have a collection of cctv and eyewitness evidence. when was the last time that sergei skripal and his daughter yulia skripal looked well and appeared to be absolutely fine? is there a cctv evidence of the degradation, how quickly, what kind of symptoms do the exhibit? as far as we can tell they go in half an hour or less from being well to being incredibly unwell and some kind of nerve agent or something like that. and at the same time you

have got the scientific investigation going on, both by the doctors at the hospital, dealing with symptoms and with experts looking at any traces that can be found of what it was that these people might have ingested or been injected with whatever it was. of course it is worth emphasising at this stage there could be some freak series of events that might oppose this which are of some kind of attack. but i think that is narrowing now. —— which are not. the foreign secretary in the house of commons and down all the various criminal justice symptoms commons and down all the various criminaljustice symptoms are regarding this as being very suspicious which could have foreign involvement. briefly, a lot of people drawing links to the alexander litvenenko case. does this mean the police in general have erred degree of expertise in this kind of poisoning incident? —— have a degree. the police have dealt with

these kinds of things. alexander litvenenko was a massive learning curve. peter clarke who was then head of counterterrorism police talks about this, what an enormous learning curve that was. and slowly learning curve that was. and slowly learning that what had happened is that the russians had come over and killed someone on the streets of london who had just become a british citizen. that was a while ago, 12 yea rs citizen. that was a while ago, 12 years ago no. but there will be people who have that, the experiences and learning from that who will go into this. i think this will be easierfor them who will go into this. i think this will be easier for them if it does turn out that there is any russian involvement. but the specifics of the alexander litvenenko case, it was a radioactive substance, left this trail around europe and restau ra nts this trail around europe and restaurants in london and arsenal stadium. in this case it will be different. it does not appear to be that sort of substance. whether or not they get as much assistance from

the substance used as then, is not known. it has taken them a while to work it out. for the moment, thank you very much indeed. let's get more on this now. we can speak to peterjackson — chair in global security from glasgow university. obviously, the huge amount of speculation that this was the work of the russian authorities in some guys. is that your belief? well, i think it is important to see in the very beginning that there are all kinds of reason why former russian citizens may die in the united kingdom. but the involvement of the counterterrorism agencies in london and the words of the foreign secretary in parliament just and the words of the foreign secretary in parliamentjust now, suggest that certainly british authorities believe there is compelling evidence for involvement. the evidence might point to russia

because russia has very long form in going after what it considers to be enemies of the people, enemies of the state, living abroad. this is something, this is a practice that goes back to the days of czarist russia when they don't rush and the dissidents all over europe. —— downed russian. through to the more recent assassinations that to place most notoriously alexander litvenenko in london. so there is certainly a long background to this kind of targeted assassination by the russian state. i suppose people would say, if it is the russian authorities, either the secret service, kgb or whoever, authorities, either the secret service, kgb orwhoever, not authorities, either the secret service, kgb or whoever, not fine now? there is a russian wrecked presidential election, vladimir

putin is widely expected to win. could this have any influence at all? that is a good question. i cannot see the logic of target assassination in a foreign country just before the elections as being somehow being intended to reinforce putin's position. i do not think it will have much influence at all. the kremlin has denied any involvement, as of course it would. i do not think this is particularly linked to the presidential elections in russia. but i suppose anything is possible, i do not have a window into the mind of vladimir putin. we are hearing threats from boris johnson. if it is proved russia is behind this, the punishment. does the kremlin, does moscow, does mr putin listen to this kind of threat and worry about the sanctions? putin listen to this kind of threat and worry about the sanctions7m putin listen to this kind of threat and worry about the sanctions? it is mildly embarrassing. but more

embarrassing is the way that the threat was delivered and moral less retracted in confusion. it was not an way to respond to rumours of russian involvement in this affair. it was a bit misguided to be honest to raise the issue in parliament and then retracted. thank you very much for your analysis. within the last hour — the leader of north korea, kimjong un, has agreed to meet his south korean counterpart, moon jae—in, on the heavily fortified border next month. it will be the first ever meeting between the two leaders — and the first meeting of two korea leaders for more than a decade. the summit was arranged at a meeting between mr kim and a south korean delegation, which has just returned from pyongyang. let's cross live now to our correspondent laura bicker in seoul. how significant could this be? it

could be hugely significant. we expected maybe the odd headline to come from this meeting that was held in pyongyang. a dinner hosted by kim jong—un. the first time he has met ministers from the site. as they have returned, they have returned with these flurry of headlines. you mention that potential meeting between the two in april. then came the bombshell if you will, north korea has told the delegates from the south, they are willing to talk about getting rid of their own nuclear weapons. they have said as long as the safety of the regime can be guaranteed. and they are willing to talk about that denuclearisation with the united states. this is potentially a huge opening for diplomacy to work on this peninsular. also, they have said that during talks, they will not test a ny that during talks, they will not test any more missiles. when it

comes to pyongyang, when it comes to kimjong—un, comes to pyongyang, when it comes to kim jong—un, there are many comes to pyongyang, when it comes to kimjong—un, there are many here comes to pyongyang, when it comes to kim jong—un, there are many here who feel that this should not be trusted. that it is part of pure and yang's play. it has been seen before. —— pyongyang. they will walk up before. —— pyongyang. they will walk up and get rid of the missiles and then walk away. they will try to get rid of international sanctions. but here there is a quite feeling of optimism. they have learned that over 60 years of ups and downs, not to get too optimistic. but there is a feeling that president moon who campaigned with engaging with the north, has won a diplomatic victory. to give you an update, donald trump has been tweeting about this in the last few moments. he said the possible progress being made in talks with north korea, for the first time in many years, a serious effort is being made by all parties concerned. the world is waiting and

watching. the us is ready to go hard in either direction. so not only is the us prepared to talk, it is prepared to take action if necessary. thank you very much. britain is suffering an obesity epidemic, and the country needs to go on a diet. that's the message from public health england, which has told food companies they must cut the calories in their products within six years. our health correspondent adina campbell reports. they are firm family favourites but too many processed foods and grab—and—go meals do not do our waistlines any favours. it is a personal choice if they want to buy it. it's up to them, they choose what to buy off the menu. i am very lazy. personally, i would not sit there and look at the calories and think, this has 200, i'll eat them. when you are really hungry, you do not focus on what you are taking in. especially if you have a lot of fast food restaurants near where you work. now supermarkets, food manufacturers and fast food restaurants are being urged to shoulder some

of the responsibility by reducing calories by 20% over the next six years. public health england says this can be achieved in three ways. changing the recipes, using better quality products, smaller portion sizes, which would help control how much we eat, or steering us to buy lower calorie products, making better informed decisions. we all need to be part of this journey because it is affecting us now and if we think we have free choice in our supermarkets, in our fast food restaurants, we probably don't. we are being guided towards the choices we currently make by those businesses. quite simply, as a nation, we are getting fatter and the sheer volume of high—calorie foods available to us is not helping. notjust bad for our health, bad for the nhs and taxpayers. to help us make healthier choices, you could soon be seeing more of these posters — a rough guide advising us to eat 400

calories at breakfast, another 600 for lunch and dinner. but campaigners say the advice goes too far. it is far too low, people will look at that and see how much a roll in terms of calories is and they will say, no, we can't handle that, we need to eat more. it is estimated some children are consuming up to 500 calories more than needed every day. and around a third leave primary school overweight or obese. if the food industry fails to take action, they could face tougher consequences by the government. adina campbell, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. we have a mixture with spring versus

winter. winter has been the dominant, notjust winter. winter has been the dominant, not just here winter. winter has been the dominant, notjust here but in europe, over the last few days. some have been making light entertainment out of it. yesterday we were with the skaters in amsterdam. st petersburg, what do you do, you go for petersburg, what do you do, you go cut . itsn that. competitors from 30 prepare that. competitors from 30 countries. racing between 25 and 200 metres. each range from 12 years old to 80. fancy a go? metres. each range from 12 years old to 80. fancya go? not metres. each range from 12 years old to 80. fancy a go? not really. the thing that worries me most is getting out. once you are in, it is 0k. as getting out. once you are in, it is ok. as long as someone is standing by with hotel for you to get out. some ice fishing and france. first time in two years it has been possible in central france. there is one lake where you can do this. this

weekend, because temperatures have plummeted so far, you can partake in this hobbyist event. been going for 50 yea rs. this hobbyist event. been going for 50 years. still a bit of winter for us. out there across the uk, snow again today. this was the stuttgart ‘s of glasgow, newton behrens. —— the outskirts. we have spring and winter battling out here in the uk. this afternoon, temperatures in double figures in some parts. you might get to around four, five celsius in one or two spots. into the evening, i hailand celsius in one or two spots. into the evening, i hail and seeing the bulk of the snow. rain around the coast. some showers in the south of england, one or two in ireland. most places will be dry this evening. dry conditions across much of the uk, cold a no dice —— clear skies

around. some rain and sleet in orkney and shetland. a few showers into the west, and temperatures not below freezing, we will see that frost and risk of ice into the morning. many for wednesday, a dry and friday. east anglia, watch for heavy showers. pushing its way northwards through the day. we will see a few showers, wintry in nature, across the west of scotland. northern ireland, some showers. for most, you will have a dry day with sunny spells and light winds. it will feel less. light winds take us into thursday. still a threat of showers on thursday. this weather front pushing in from france, could bring rain. keep checking the weather forecast. there is bring rain. keep checking the weatherforecast. there is a potential for weatherforecast. there is a potentialfor rain. elsewhere, a weatherforecast. there is a potential for rain. elsewhere, a few showers will come and go. wintry on the tops of the hills. after a frosty start, we will have a great day with cold spells. thursday night

into freddie, freddie starts frosty. further rain, sleet and still in scotland. many places dry for a time. an introduction of heavy rain and that will tie into some mildly pushing our way into the weekend. it will be battling it out with the cold air. it hits the cold air in the weekend, we could see snow in the weekend, we could see snow in the pennines and into northern ireland and scotland for a time. but it does look through the recount the milderair it does look through the recount the milder air will win out for a time, bringing for many of you some dry and bright weather on sunday. we will keep you updated on bbc news. this is bbc news, our latest headlines. counter terrorism police have taken over the investigation into the suspected poisoning of former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter yulia in salisbury. borisjohnson has said the uk would respond "robustly" to any evidence of russian involvement. russia says it has no information

about the cause of the illness. russia says one of its military transport planes has crashed in syria, killing 32 people. the russian defence ministry suspects it was a technical fault. north korea's leader, kimjong—un, says he will discuss giving up his nuclear weapons, as long as there is no military threat to his state. the leaders of north and south korea are due to meet at a summit next month. britain should go on a diet, health officials urge food manufacturers to cut the calories in their products. it is all part of a drive to cut calorie consumption by 20%, by 2024. all the latest sport, we have had lord coe talking in the last hour, facing tricky questions. absolutely. we have heard at length from several

happy with is over the last 24 hours, defending himself against claims in the dcm is doping report published yesterday. lord coe, one of the most influential and powerful men in global sport, in his role as president of the iaaf, world athletics, was accused of misleading that committee, when he met them. —— dcms. they were trying to get to the bottom of what he knew four years ago when david bedford, london marathon race director, well—known athletics figure in this country, flagged up allegations of russian doping, and a possible cover—up when lord coe was vice president at the organisation, did that by e—mail and telephone. lord coe said he did not open e—mail attachments and bedford did not go into any details on the phone. the dcms say that stretches credibility but speaking today, coe

said he did not mislead the committee, wouldn't change any of the answers he gave at the time and defended his record in the fight against doping. everything we have donein against doping. everything we have done in the sport, the 200 changes, suspension of the russian federation, the journey we have taken in the last two years, tells me we are in better shape than we we re two me we are in better shape than we were two years ago, it is for others tojudge what we were two years ago, it is for others to judge what we have were two years ago, it is for others tojudge what we have done, but it is not what i say, it is what we have actually achieved as a sport. so, no, this sport is not in tatters, it is extremely strong. we wa nt tatters, it is extremely strong. we want exactly what the group of members of parliament want: the eradication of drugs in sport, and a road map to that. i think we have provided a road map notches at a national level but it has become international. cool and calm under fire, a lot of the leading sports news journalist in the country were peppering him but he had on his hard hat and batted everything away, they accused him of having his reputation being in tatters, but we saw him there, sticking to his story, that

he did not mislead the committee in anyway. any other things to say apart from batting away questions? he was speaking at the conclusion of the two—day iaaf council meeting, after the world indoor athletics championship in birmingham, last week we saw the international and committee readmit russia at the close of the winter games, the iaaf have upheld their ban, they were the only federation to blanket ban russian athletes at the rio olympics. we saw in russia, who could... a couple of old winners, mariya lasitskene and danil lysenko, competing as authorised neutral athletes, that is the way it will stay if russians want to compete, if they want to compete as athletes in athletics, they have got to prove they are clean and operating outside of the state—sponsored doping system in the past. lord coe having plenty

to say today. serena williams will return to the wta tour tomorrow at the indian wells tournament in the us. the former world number one has played only one competitive doubles match in the last 14 months and also had herfirst child match in the last 14 months and also had her first child six match in the last 14 months and also had herfirst child six months match in the last 14 months and also had her first child six months ago, a very difficult pregnancy it was as well. the 23 time grand slam winner faces zarina diyas of kazakhstan in the first round. she's one major singles title short of margaret court's record but is trying to keep expectations to a minimum. yeah, it has been hard, there has been so many days, even still, when i am like, how am i going to keep going? it has been really difficult but i keep going, and i knowi it has been really difficult but i keep going, and i know i may not be at my best yet but i am getting there, and every day is a new day and every day i should be getting better. as long as i am moving forward , better. as long as i am moving forward, even if it is at a turtle's pace, then i am ok with that. rugby

union newsjust pace, then i am ok with that. rugby union news just in. union newsjust in. england winger jack nowell has been ruled out of this weekend's six nations match against france, while captain dylan hartley has also emerged as an injury doubt. nowell has an ankle problem. he's been used as a replacement so far but scored against italy on the opening weekend and also featured against wales and scotland. flanker sam underhill will also miss the france match. that is all the sport for now, much more in the next hour. the pedigree dog show crufts returns to birmingham this week for its 127th year. more than 20,000 dogs from across the globe will compete across four days to win the coveted best in show prize. the kennel club, who set the breed standards, have launched a new campaign called "save forgotten dog breeds" which aims to remind people about the 220 breeds of pedigree dog in the country, including those historic native breeds that are at risk of disappearing, as they become forgotten. bill lambert is the kennel clubs health

and breeder services manager, hejoins me now along with brax, a white swiss shepherd, a breed which is making its debut at crufts this year, and jackson, a dandie dinmont terrier, a breed which is now on the kennel club's "at risk" list due to declining numbers. first time that this breed will be at crufts, and the only breeds named after a fictional character, dandie dinmont terrier. from scotland. named after a character in one of water scott's books, guy mannering, he belongs to a farmer who people wa nted he belongs to a farmer who people wanted dandie dinmont terrier which the farm was famous for. how is crufts, is it still pretty successful, we have heard 20,000 dogs competing, this is the 127 year. growing in interest every year,

year. growing in interest every yea r, lots of year. growing in interest every year, lots of people from overseas, as restrictions on raid ease was lifted some years ago, so lots of foreign dogs but it is considered the most exciting and biggest dog show in the world, and grows every year. 160,000 people through the gate last year, fantastically populous. and important? at the centre is a very important dog show, and so much there, 25 acres of holes there are, you can get anything to do with dogs, anything related to dogs, one of those things that is on people's bucket lists. not without controversy, some people say intense breeding can cause health problems in some dogs, what you say to that? it is about health, we try to educate people, great education, good chance for people to talk to the people who know about the breeds, talk about health conditions, that do exist, and what breeds are doing to try to eliminate

thoseissues breeds are doing to try to eliminate those issues from breeds. but we have seen them, we have seen a whole list of health problems in certain dogs, breathing problems, reproductive problems, urinary tract problems, and this has come from intensive breeding. yes, over the yea rs, intensive breeding. yes, over the years, with these tests are available now, most breeders can make use of them to make sure they do read healthier dogs, lots of dna tests that people can do. to guarantee the outcome for the puppies. we are living in a new age, people are far more educated, we are doing our best to educate people how to breed healthy dogs. some would say people are breeding to make financial gain. very few people are making money out of breeding dogs, most do it through a love of the breed, i know a lot of people in the industry. these dogs are bread with love and care, most breeders want to breed happy dogs that live long lives. what about crossbreeds, they

are not allowed in crufts. we have a crossbreed competition, it is called scrufts, people think the kennel clu b scrufts, people think the kennel club is just about pedigree dogs but no, it is primarily there for that but we brace all dogs, and we welcome them. what people have to do, when buying a dog, do their research. the great thing about pedigree dogs, 220 different pedigree dogs, 220 different pedigree breeds, there is a brief for everyone, people need to do research and know what they are buying. you can have certain guarantees with pedigrees that you cannot get with crossbreeds. animal rights campaigners, some vets, are worried about what goes on at crufts, even comparing the intensive breeding with nazi eugenics, what do you say to that kind of campaigning that does not like what goes on at crufts. we have lots of vets at crufts. we have lots of vets at crufts looking at dogs, and we have put so much effort into encouraging the help of dogs and breeds of dogs.

most of these arguments are old news, people need to come to crufts, see what is going on, judge for themselves, it is about happy, healthy dogs living with happy owners. thank you very much indeed. very well—behaved dogs, they never say... very well—behaved dogs, they never hey very well—behaved dogs, they never say... they say never work with animals or children, but these dogs have been very well—behaved. very good luck with crufts. thank you for coming in. now, something completely different. packaging firms in england have been accused of not paying enough towards the cost of dealing with plastic waste. the waste consultancy eunomia claims the companies are paying only 10 per cent of the overall bill for dealing with the waste. the packaging industry denies the claims. roger harrabin reports. -- 1096. dealing with waste is expensive. under a government scheme, the firms that produce packaging have to chip in towards improving recycling. but today's report says the packaging industry is paying just one tenth of the real cost of clearing up the mess it creates. we spend something like 2.8 billion as councils each year on waste collection and disposal,

but we only receive something like 50 million from the plastics industry that contributes towards the cost. that is far too low. today's report says the packaging industry is also overstating the amount it recycles by about 30%. no one from the industry was available for interview on the issue. a spokesman said all their figures on recycling were independently verified. but the question of who pays how much to recycle plastics is clearly up for debate. this really matters to all of us because we share the bill through our council tax for getting rid of waste. but is that bill shared fairly? suppose i am the sort of man who eats lots of takeaways and drinks lots of fizzy drinks, i am generating an awful lot of rubbish. suppose the neighbour does not create much waste at all.

then she is contributing the same amount in council tax as me but causing a small fraction of the problem. environmentalists say it is not fair. change is on the way. the government is reviewing waste policy and councils want firms to pay much more to fund recycling. the industry of course wants to keep its bill as small as possible. environmentalists think firms should pay 100% of the cost of recycling the things they produce. roger harrabin, bbc news. breaking news to bring new, reaction from russia to that statement in the commons from the foreign secretary on the incident in salisbury, the russian foreign ministry spokeswoman calling boris johnson's comments russian foreign ministry spokeswoman calling borisjohnson's comments on the incident wild, that is the line

coming into us from moscow, what the foreign secretary has said, boris johnson, is wild. we will try to get more on that in a moment. another line coming in, on the case of alfie eva ns, line coming in, on the case of alfie evans, kate james and john evans, the parents of 20 month —month—old alfie evans have had their appeal dismissed. —— 21—month—old alfie eva ns. dismissed. —— 21—month—old alfie evans. they have lost their treatment fight in the high court, it was ruled that doctors could stop treating alfie evans, against the wishes of parents, kate and, —— kate and tom. we will bring you more on both those stories as it comes into us. in a moment, the business news. before that, let's check out the headlines.

counterterrorism police have taken over the investigation into the suspected poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter in salisbury. foreign secretary boris johnson says the act robustly if russia is found to be involved. north korea's leader, kimjong—un, says he will discuss giving up his nuclear weapons as long as there is no military threat to his state. the head of vauxhall says its ellesmore port operation is under threat due to lack of clarity over brexit. carlos tavares, chief executive of psa which owns vauxhall, peugeot and citroen, told the bbc "we cannot invest in a world of uncertainty‘. the firm is to cut another 250 jobs at the cheshire plant, on top of the 400 announced in october. the takeover of uk engineering giant gkn should be blocked, according to a group of 16 mps

who have written to the business secretary. melrose industries, who say they specialise in the acquisition and performance improvement of manufacturing businesses, has offered £7.4 billion for gkn one of the uk's largest industrial firms. the pensions regulator has warned that a take over could affect gkn's ability to fund its pension scheme. the disgraced former co—op bank boss paul flowers has been banned from the financial services industry by the city watchdog. mr flowers was chair of co—op bank between 2010 and 2013, but was forced to step down amid allegations he bought and used illegal drugs, as well as claiming inappropriate expenses. fears of a possible trade war between the united states and the european union, and signs that the eu is striking back against donald trump. motorbikes, whiskey and t—shirts are among the us goods that

could be hit by eu taxes if the threatened us import tariffs are imposed on steel and aluminium. 100 us goods, drawn up yesterday. circulated to 28 eu member governments, discussed tomorrow by eu commissioners. many of the products the eu have on the list have quite a lot of political significance, they are being very specific with targeting, including borbon whiskey, which is produced in kentucky, the state of the senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell, orange juice is on majority leader, mitch mcconnell, orangejuice is on the majority leader, mitch mcconnell, orange juice is on the list, majority leader, mitch mcconnell, orangejuice is on the list, a key export for florida, a swing state in the us elections. underneath all of this, there is a feeling that these ta riffs this, there is a feeling that these tariffs may not actually happen and that in fact, this was just a negotiating tactic employed by president trump to impact on the nafta negotiations, and that is the line that is reflected in the markets, they are all up. let's start there with new york business correspondent, kim gittleson. these

ta riffs correspondent, kim gittleson. these tariffs were announced at the end of last week, now they do not seem certain. in some ways, we are in the same position we were on thursday, head scratching, wondering what exactly is behind the plan. headline figure, 25% import tariff on aluminium, and steel, but we are short on details on the plan, it is unclear whether this will be implement it, the national economic council is planning an event on thursday, he has been known to say that he is against these tariffs. there is infighting within the trump administration and as you mentioned, the european union is considering retaliatory tariffs which may hurt came public and members of congress which could cause even more push back within the us. some of the items on the list of 100 are specifically targeted, talk us through some of them. specifically targeted, talk us through some of themlj specifically targeted, talk us through some of them. i was wondering how many british people

love bourbon whiskey, had to think elizabeth about why the eu is targeting that, that is mitch mcconnell's home state, then tacky, big industry, employing 17,500 people. —— kentucky. mitch mcconnell would take a dim view on that. harley— davidson, they make motorcycles, in the home state of paul ryan, speaker of the house in wisconsin. the eu has done this deliberately, following a playbook that they intimated in 2003 when there was another series of proposed tariffs, that the bush administration had levied on steel. thank you for that analysis. you have results from just eat. most people have heard ofjust eat, there will be some companies in the ftse 100 people do not know, butjust eat is familiar to many, it entered at the end of last year, it was the

first time that one of these tech platforms, consumer platforms, got into the ftse100, atone point platforms, consumer platforms, got into the ftse100, at one point the valuations are past that of sainsbury‘s. significant, when you think of the bricks and mortar sainsbury‘s own. just eat is basically just sainsbury‘s own. just eat is basicallyjust ordering website, it put you in touch with the place you get the restaurants you get your food from, they do not even handle delivery. results pretty strong, orders up, pre—tax losses have fallen, they want to invest in the delivery side, and lots of investors are thinking it is a highly competitive market, taking on delivery of, all of these other companies, margins much smaller, so the share price will fall, down around 14%, now 10%, the share price will fall, down around 14%, now10%, let's the share price will fall, down around 14%, now 10%, let's listen to the senior market analyst. a lot of competition, they must respond to that, and on top of that, a significant market in branded

restaurants, burger king, kfc, who do not deliver, and i thinkjust eat wants to tap into that one should go down the route of delivery service, then you have higher overheads, higher costs, at the moment the growth in the sector, the margins are not as impressive asjust eat has had up until now. sojust may be a sign that they can expect the margin growth to maybe extend the way it has been going. look at the markets, they are all up. that is what i was discussing, this feeling that the tariffs may not come into play in the way they had been threatened, this trade war may not kicked off, relief from the markets, big appetite for risk, you can see clark markets globally are up. —— you can see that markets globally are up. the former bbc breakfast presenter

bill turnbull has revealed that he's suffering from prostate cancer. the 62—year—old broadcaster says he was diagnosed at the end of last year and that he wants to encourage men to get tested. our medical correspondent fergus walsh reports. there were some moments that i had forgotten about entirely. bill turnbull on his last day on bbc breakfast in 2016 after presenting the programme for 15 years. the star of many shows, among them strictly, he tweeted the news he was diagnosed with prostate and bone cancer last november. he added, i will place that there. that's very sweet. the diagnosis came when he was recording the special celebrity bake off for stand up to cancer which begins tonight. in an interview, he said,

he said, i will give you a blood test. the next morning, the doctor said it is fairly clear you have advanced prostate cancer. in an interview in the radio times, he urges men not to ignore symptoms that might indicate prostate cancer which will affect one in eight men. the key symptoms are any very rapid changes to how often you go to the toilet to urinate, any pain when you do or pain generally in the pelvic area, though symptoms might not be cancer, they probably are not, but they would potentially suggest there is an issue and men should go to their gp if they have any symptoms. bill says he's still working and does not want to be defined by his illness. he adds, although cancer will shorten his life, his consultant's ambition is he will see another 18 years. we wa nt

we want to show you the scene in wiltshire, there will be a police press co nfe re nce press conference on the suspected poisoning of the former russian spy in salisbury, so their script i'll and his daughter, yulia skripal. we have been reporting that counterterrorism police from the metropolitan police force have taken over the investigation, we will bring you the latest there on that investigation as soon as that begins. —— sergei skripal. rather cool afternoon, snow continued to fall in western scotland, temperature split, milder air, certainly to the south, temperature in double figures, one or two showers, continuing through the evening rush—hour, some running

up the evening rush—hour, some running up through east anglia, one or two in the south east of england and wales. snow falling through the evening, across parts of the north grampians and northern highlands. that will stock to move away as we go through tonight. showers tonight, taking us back into western parts of scotland, western england, one or two further channel islands. good brea ks two further channel islands. good breaks for the cloud, leading to a frost, patchy frog, —— patchy fog, one or two spots will be icy. mixture of rain, hail, sleet, hill snow. we could see some heavy rain working through east anglia and the south—east. we will keep you updated. hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm ben brown. today at 3.00pm. counter—terrorism police take over the investigation into the suspected poisoning of a former russian spy

and his daughter in salisbury. sergei and yulia skripal were found two days ago slumped on a bench, they are now in a critical condition. this is the scene. cordoned off. foreign secretary borisjohnson says the government will respond if russia is found to be involved. i can reassure the house that should evidence emerge that implies state state responsibility, then her majesty's government will respond appropriately and robustly. north korea's leader, kimjong—un, says he will discuss giving up his nuclear weapons — as long as there is no military threat to his state. britain should go on a diet — health officials urge food manufacturers to cut the calories in their products. coming up on afternoon live all the sport. olly foster. we have heard from lord coe. we have. lord coe was accused of misleading that dcms committee

regarding exactly what he knew about russian doping, and he maintains that he knew nothing. thanks olly. we'll be joining you for a full update just after half—past. matt taylor has all the weather. the seasons battle it out across the uk. winter in full force in scotland at the moment. we have spring sunshine breaking through further south. which of the seasons will win? i've your full forecast in half an hour. thank you very much indeed. also coming up... as former bbc breakfast presenter bill turnbull reveals he's been diagnosed with prostate cancer. he urges other men not to ignore the symptoms. hello everyone, this is afternoon live, i'm ben brown. counter—terrorism police have taken charge of the inquiry into the suspected poisoning of a former russian spy in salisbury.

they say at this stage they are keeping an open mind about what happened. sergei skripal and his daughter were found on a bench in the city centre on sunday. they are both critically ill in hospital. sergei skripal was found slumped on a bench in the city centre on sunday, alongside 33—year—old yulia skripal. wiltshire police say both remain in a critical condition in intensive care after being treated for suspected exposure to an unknown substance. a restaurant and a pub in salisbury have been cordoned off and one member of the emergency services is also still in hospital. borisjohnson said, if russia was involved, it's particularly shocking an incident such as this appears to have happened on a quiet sunday afternoon in our cathedral city. over the past couple of days i've been briefed regularly by the chief co nsta ble constable and can say with confidence the matter has received the full support both the police and

our partner agencies in a coordinated major response. i can also say that measures necessary to ensure the safety of the public, in and around the scene, have also been taken. mr pritchard will now read a short statement but neither he nor i will be taking questions. thank you. sorry about that. thank you commissioner. good afternoon. we declared a major incident yesterday after a man and woman were taken seriously ill in salisbury on sunday. they both remain in a critical condition and our thoughts and best wishes remain with their families during this difficult time.

a full multi agency response was activated and currently involves public health england, the nhs, local authorities in both swindon and wiltshire, and a wide range of partners. this has been a fast paced investigation and our focus has partners. this has been a fast paced investigation and ourfocus has been on trying to establish what has caused these people to become critically ill. and whether or not criminal activity has taken place. since sunday, we've had access to a wide range of specialist resources and services that have been working alongside us. you will be aware this afternoon the metropolitan police have confirmed that due to the unusual circumstances the counter—terrorism network will be leading this investigation, as it has the specialist capability and expertise to do so. it is important to reiterate they have not declared this as a terrorist incident. as at

this as a terrorist incident. as at this stage, they are keeping an open mind as to what has happened. the advice from public health england remains that, based on the evidence, currently there doesn't appear to be any immediate risk to the public. we can confirm that a small number of emergency services personnel, including some officers and staff, we re including some officers and staff, were assessed immediately after the incident. i would like to sincerely thank members of the public for their continued assistance and for respecting the cordons that remain in place in and around the salisbury area. i'd like to thank our partners, staff from supporting agencies and our officers, staff and volu nteers agencies and our officers, staff and volunteers for their dedication and ha rd volunteers for their dedication and hard work over the last few days. i fully understand the concerns that many of our residents in salisbury and across the wider county maybe feeling today and i want to again

reassure you that there does not appear to be reassure you that there does not appearto be any reassure you that there does not appear to be any immediate risk to the public. during this time, it's vital that we continue to provide an increased policing presence in the salisbury city area as i believe this plays an important part in helping to reassure our communities. thank you. there we are. pretty brief statement there from mr pritchard the temporary chief constable of wiltshire police. reiterating what we knew already that the metropolitan police had confirmed that the counter—terrorism network we re that the counter—terrorism network were taking over the investigation. he said the wiltshire police have been getting a lot of specialist help from the beginning, but also just saying again this is not been declared a terrorist incident. he did also say that a small number of

emergency service personnel were assessed after the incident. let us get this report on the latest developments from our correspondent, richard lister. two figures believed to be sergei skripal and his daughter yulia caught on cctv on sunday. within hours they would be fighting for their lives. poisoned by an unknown substance. there was a man like slumped over the bench being sick iechl was told there was a woman on floor. i couldn't see her. there was paramedics around. the man he saw has a complex pass. mr skripal is a russian convicted of spying for the west before coming to the uk. investigation of the area outsided a shopping centre where he and his daughter were found unconscious has continued today. some emergency services personnel at the scene on sunday were taken to hospitalfor the scene on sunday were taken to hospital for assessment. all but one has since been released. officially police are keeping an open mind about what happened here, but because of their expertise, counter

terror officers are now leading the investigation. the critical thing is to get to the bottom of what caused it. the specialist resources within the counter—terrorism network that i co—ordinate around the country and other partners are, working with wiltshire police to get to the bottom of that as quickly as possible. samples of the substance involved in this incident has been sent to the lab to be tested for highly toxic compounds. with a mystery su bsta nce highly toxic compounds. with a mystery substance involved, tracing the pairs movements is a priority. after taping off the area around the. shoning centre when they were found people secured the zizzi as a precaution. a pub has also been cordoned off. public health england has stressed there is no wider health risk from the incident.

parallels with the 2006 poisoning of alexander litvinenko are hard to ignore. a russian dissent, he was poisoned in london with a radioactivelb compound. an inquiry said he was probably murdered by the kremlin. the russian embassy today complained of speculative stories which it said were "demonising russia". the government has now put moscow on notice. while it would be wrong to prejudge the investigation, ican wrong to prejudge the investigation, i can reassure the house that should evidence emerge that implies state responsibility, then her majesty's government will respond appropriately and robustly. the first pictures have now emerged of 33—year—old yulia skripal visiting her father from russia when 33—year—old yulia skripal visiting herfatherfrom russia when he 33—year—old yulia skripal visiting her father from russia when he felt. they may be able to shed light on what happened to them on sunday, but they remain gravely ill. we can go to our correspondent

jeremy cook. what do the police have to say? nothing new from the police today. it's clear this investigation is still very much in its early stages. what we did get is confirmation that wiltshire police will be taking a secondary role in the investigation into what has happened here. the counter—terrorism network, as it is called, led by the metropolitan police counter intelligence unit, will be taking the lead role. i think what we are looking at now the investigation centring on the toxicology. finding out whether any poison agent was used. to explain why these it two individuals have become so sick, so quickly. we are told that the specialists at portadown laboratories are on the case with that. if we get confirmation there has been some poison or toxic substance which has made sergei

skripal and his daughter so ill at this time. if it's confirmed that will be very much the starting point of the next phase, the new phase of this investigation, ben. obviously, alarming for people, ordinary people who live in salisbury who may have been close to that incident when it happened? just extraordinary really. it takes on all the appearances, if you like, the cold war coming round this tight wiltshire community. it is upsetting. i think the acting chief constable was very much stressing the fact that there is, as far as anyone understands, no risk to public health. it was really a statement of reassurance to local people. he said the public health advice there is no preeshable risk. three members of the emergency services, we understand three police officers, were treated immediately after the event. one is in hospital,

but not believed to be in a serious condition. jeremy thank you very much indeed. we can now speak to our correspondent, leila nathoo, who's in salisbury. what is the latest? what are police and people who live there saying? there is a sense of shock it has happened. a lot of disbelieving passers by as we have been around the town centre for the last couple of days. you can see the scene behind me is empty. police activity going on there. police presence and va ns going on there. police presence and vans of police tents set up. the pefrj is still under a police tent. the activity we saw here last night, with police in body suits and gas masks, they were rifling through that bin over there, that has come to an end for now. it's clear this is still a scene of interest as the wide police cordon still remains in place. of course the restaurant

where the two were has been sealed off. that is over there. the bush sealed off is not too far. the cctv footage that emerged today, that ca ptu res a footage that emerged today, that captures a man and a woman, matching the description of sergei and yulia walking through a tunnel over there before they get to the bench. this isa before they get to the bench. this is a crucial site for the investigation you heard it there from jeremy and the police, no new information from what we knew already, the police police are treating it as an unknown substance. the substance is being tested no. results as of yet. we will wait to hear what the results are when they come in. ok. thank you very much indeed. with me now is bill browder, who was deported from russia after trying to expose corruption in the country. thank you for being with us. what do you think? do you think this was the work of the russian authorities, as

sommer people are already suspecting? we are premature i think on what exactly has happened. if we look at the headlines. we look at a major double agent of russia, effectively a traitor to russia, came to england. putin regularly assasinates the traitors from his country. this guy and his daughter colla pse country. this guy and his daughter collapse on sunday afternoon, suspected of poisoning. the only obvious theory to investigate is that this was a kremlin ordered assassination attempt. that may be disproven with facts as #24e come out, i think we have to run with that as the theory until it's proved otherwise. that would be a theory that has been acted in the past. the alexander litvinenko story in which it was effectively proven the russian government did an assassination with nuclear poison in mayfair. there was another case of a

whistleblower from russia mayfair. there was another case of a whistleblowerfrom russia involved in ourcampaign in whistleblowerfrom russia involved in our campaign in connection with the murder of my lawyer are. he dropped dead while jogging. the murder of my lawyer are. he dropped dead whilejogging. the police didn't investigate it. we have a lot of different russians dropping dead. these are two of a number of stories. it does raise grave concerns that putin is doing his dirty work, his killing in the uk. you have fought a long—running battle with moscow, with the kremlin. do you everfearfor yourself? yeah. i've been threatened with death. i've been threatened with death. i've been threatened with kidnapping. i've been threatened with arrest. with extradition. they have come after me in the courts. they come after me with propaganda. basically, i'm a big enemy of the russian state because i've been campaigning for the last eight years to get sanctions, human rights sanctions

imposed on russia. i've succeeded here in the united states, canada and the uk. putin hates that he has and the uk. putin hates that he has a lot of stolen money in the west he wa nts to a lot of stolen money in the west he wants to keep safe. my objective is to have that money seized. i think if this turns out to be a murder, as many people suspect that the tool that we have put in place, the act, could very well be the tool that should be used to go after russia if it turns out they have been killing people on uk soil. when you say you have had threats of various different kinds, can you say who from and what kind of threats? the most explicit and the one, the highest level threat came from dmitry medvedev, the prime minister of russia. in 2013 in davos, switzerland. he was asked about the

murder of my lawyer, by a bunch of journalists. he said to journalists, "it's a shame that he's dead and bill browder is alive and running around." we have received emails, text messages and voicemails threatening me and my colleagues with death. they are serious about this and angry with me. i'm concerned, living in the uk, if these people are allowed to get it away with it. it means i'm not safe and my colleagues are not safe. do you think you should have and need more protection than you get here in the ushg? i take care of myself. i don't believe that the government has the capability to deal with a situation like this. if putin really wa nts to situation like this. if putin really wants to get me, he'll get me. there is no way to avoid it. the one way to protect me, which would be better than anything else, would be to have a robust and meaningful response, a

serious response, notjust kicking out a diplomat or two go after the assets of putin's ole gashes if it's proved he has done this killing. thank you. we can speak to our political correspondent, vicki young. you were listening to the foreign secretary, robust and tough talking language from boris johnson secretary, robust and tough talking language from borisjohnson on all of this? there was. interestingly, the debate was what you were talking about. how much can britain do to really punish president putin and the sanctions that have been put in place up until now, are they really having any kind of impact? as you say, borisjohnson was talking tough, saying that if it was proven that moscow was behind this alleged attack, then there would be a very robust response. borisjohnson himself talked about this case

having echoes of what happened to alexander litvinenko. although he did say we shouldn't be speculating too much. the question is, how much more should britain do? boris johnson saying he felt the uk was at the forefront of leading the sanctions against russia. of calling them out, as he put it, on various issues. he also raised the prospect of the world cup, hosted by russia injune. of the world cup, hosted by russia in june. this of the world cup, hosted by russia injune. this is what he had to say about that. i think we will have to have a serious conversation about our engagement with russia and, from my own part, i think it would be very difficult to see how we can... thinking ahead to the world cup this july. this summer. i think it would be very difficult to imagine that uk representation at that event could go—ahead in the normal way. we would certainly have to consider that. borisjohnson was talking about the uk, some felt he was talking about

the boycott by the england team. it was clarified by his officials that is not what he meant. he was talking about the attendance of ministers, of ambassadors of officials. at that level rather than the team in anyway exercising any kind of boycott. there were many in the house who felt that more needs to be done by the united kingdom. some suggesting that really this was a soft war by russia on the united kingdom. some strong words too from this labour mp. personally, i believe this period that we're passing through now is probably as dangerous as the 19305 now is probably as dangerous as the 1930s and russia is the new germany with a leader who is also very unpredictable and very determined to ta ke unpredictable and very determined to take on america and the free world. others talked about the cyber—attacks by russia. talking about attacksen our infrastructure.

—— attacks on our struck. there are 14 other cases of russian citizens in this country. they say a lot of their death were put down to suicide or natural causes. but there is some suspicion around all of that too. calls for further police inquiries into some of those deaths. thank you very much indeed. the leader of north korea, kimjong un, has agreed to meet his south korean counterpart, moon jae—in, on the heavily fortified border next month. it will be the first ever meeting between the two leaders and the first meeting of two korea leaders for more than a decade. the summit was arranged at a meeting between mr kim and a south korean delegation, which has just returned from pyongyang. seoul correspondent laura bicker explains how significant this development might be. it could be hugely significant. we expect maybe the odd headline to

come from this meeting. it was held in pyongyang. a dinner hosted by kim jong—un the first time he met ministers from the south. as they've returned they have come out with a flurry of headlines. first of all, you mentioned that potential meeting between the two in april, but then came the bomb shell, if you will, north korea has told the delegates from the south they are willing to talk about getting rid of their nuclear weapons. they've said as long as the safety of the regime can be guaranteed and they are willing to talk about that denuclearisation with the united states. this will is potentially a huge opening for diplomacy to work on this peninsula. also, they've said that during talks they will not test any more missiles. now when it comes to pyongyang and kim jong—un missiles. now when it comes to pyongyang and kimjong—un many here

feel it should not be trusted. its pa rt feel it should not be trusted. its part of pyongyang's play book. it's been seen before. they will perhaps walk up to the table, talk about getting rid of their nuclear weapons and walk away again. many feel they might be trying to buy time. trying to get rid of international sanctions. here there is a quiet feeling of optimism. they have learned, after over 60 years of ups and downs not to get too optimistic. there is a feeling that president moon who campaigned on engaging with the north has managed to win a diplomatic victory. donald trump has been tweeting about this in the last few moments he said, "possible progress being made in talks with north korea for the first time in many years a serious effort is being made by all parties concerned. the world is watching and waiting. maybe false hope, but the us is ready to go hard in either direction." not

only is the us prepared to talk, but it is prepared to take action if necessary. a murder investigation's underway for a woman found dead at her home in twickenham yesterday evening. the woman, believed to be in her 405, was found with stab injuries. what can you tell us, jane? neighbours called the police yesterday. they found a 47—year—old woman with stab wounds. they immediately started looking for her husband, who is a 57 and two sons, seven and ten. they were contacted by sussex police who said an hour earlier they had found two bodies at the bottom of cliffs. there has been no formal identifications of the bodies, but it's believed to be her

immediate family, her husband and two sons. ok. thank you very much. jane frances kelly reporting. the government are recommending people limit themselves to 400 calories to breakfast and 600 each for lunch and dinner in an attempt to combat an obesity epidemic. joining is now is dr stephanie dillon senior lecturer #2e school of sport and wellbeiing, university of central lancashire. is this a call for the country to go on a diet?

some children are consuming more than 500 calories than they actually need. so we need to find a way to reduce calories intake, most definitely, to combat this obesity epidemic that we are actually in. should we reduce calories by individuals doing it voluntarily or food companies being ordered they have to cut the number of calories in their products? we need the food companies to buy into this. food manufacturers, supermarkets, fast—food outlets and takeaways we need everyone to buy into this. voluntarily to begin with, but hopefully if the change isn't effective we need government intervention. we'd need legislation to come in to control it. we've often heard warnings about an obesity time bomb. is it that serious in your view in this country? i think it is serious,

particularly for the youth of today. one in three children are overweight or obese. as adults they will be more at risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers as well. we need to do something about this and reducing calorie intake will help. do you fear that, in terms of this, we are worse than our competitors in europe and other countries? i think other countries are having the same sort of crisis we're having with obesity. we're not alone in this respect. but we need to find something that works to control kale calorie intake. what we don't want is for people to become so focused on calories that they forget about achieving a healthy

balanced diet. that's important as well. thank you very much. now the latest balanced diet. that's important as well. thank you very much. now the latest weather. balanced diet. that's important as well. thank you very much. now the latest weather. snow balanced diet. that's important as well. thank you very much. now the latest weather. snow continuing balanced diet. that's important as well. thank you very much. now the latest weather. snow continuing to fall in parts of northern scotland for the rest of today. cool after afternoon here. a big temperature split showers will continue in the evening rush—hour. one or two towards the south—west of england and wales. we continue to see the snowfalling through the evening across parts of the north grampians and northern highlands. that will move away as we go through tonight. showers tonight, northern ireland, then back into western parts of scotland, western england and wales. one or two for the channel islands as well. good brea ks the channel islands as well. good breaks in the cloud that will lead toa breaks in the cloud that will lead to a frost and patchy fog into tomorrow morning. brighter start for many tomorrow. it could be icy in one or two spots. showers continue one or two spots. showers continue on and off, northern ireland and western scotland. mixture of rain,

hail, sleet. we could see heavier rain work through east anglia and the south—east. we'll keep you updated. this is bbc news. our latest headlines: after the suspected poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter in salisbury, counter—terrorism police take over the investigation. the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, has described russia as "a malign and disruptive force" — during a statement about the suspected poisoning in wiltshire. north korea's leader, kimjong—un, says he will discuss giving threat. ts! his stat; the leaders of north and south korea are due to meet at a summit next month. a woman has been found dead with stab wounds, an hour after the bodies of her husband and two sons were discovered at the foot of cliffs in east sussex. her death is being treated as murder. britain should go on a diet — health officials urge food manufacturers to cut the calories in their products. it is all part of a drive to cut calorie consumption by 20% by 2024.

sport now on afternoon live with olly foster. many thanks indeed. we heard at length from bradley wiggins defending those claims against him in the dcms report that was published yesterday. lord coe, one of the most influential and powerful men in global sport, in his role as president of the iaaf, was accused of misleading that committee, when they were trying to get to the bottom of exactly what he knew four years ago, when dave bedford, the london marathon race director, flagged up some alleagtions of russian doping and a possible iaaf cover up via email and telephone four years ago. at the time, coe said he didn't open

the email attachments and that bedford doidn't go into any details on the phone. the dcms say that stretches credibility. but speaking today, coe said he did not mislead the committee, he did not mislead the committee, wouldn't change any of the answers he gavce and defdned hsi record in the fight against doping. everything that we have done in the sport, the 200 changes, the suspension of the russian federation, the journey that we've taken in the last two years tells me we are in much better shape than we we re we are in much better shape than we were two years ago. it is for others tojudge what we were two years ago. it is for others to judge what we have done, but it is not what i say, i think it is what we have actually achieved as a sport. so, no, iwas bought what we have actually achieved as a sport. so, no, i was bought is not in tatters, it is extremely strong. we wa nt in tatters, it is extremely strong. we want exactly what that group members of parliament want, which is the of drugs in sport and a road map to that. i think we have provided a road map not just to that. i think we have provided a road map notjust at a national level, but i think it has become global. coe was speaking at the conclusion of a two day iaaf council

meeting after the world indoor athletics championships in birmingham and, last week, we saw the internationl olympic committee readmit russia at the close of the winter games, the iaaf have upheld their ban, they were the only federation to blanket—ban russian atheltes at the rio olympics. and we saw russians, who could prove that they were clean and had operated outside the old russian state—sponsored doping system, competing in birmingham. mariya lasitskene and danil lysenko both won gold, but only as authorised neutral athletes. serena williams will return to the wta tour tomorrow at the indian wells tournament in the us. the fomer world number one has only played one competitive doubles match in the last 14 months and also had her first child six months ago. the 23—time grand slam winner warmed up at the new tie break tens exhibition event in new york. she went out in the semi—finals, but did beat another player

on the comeback trail, marion bartoli. williams isjust one major singles title short of margaret court's all—time record, but is trying to keep expectations to a minimum. yes, it has been hard. there has been so many days, even still, that iam like, been so many days, even still, that i am like, how am been so many days, even still, that iam like, how am i been so many days, even still, that i am like, how am i going to keep going, you know? and it has been really, really difficult, but i keep going andi really, really difficult, but i keep going and i know that i might not be at my best yet, but i am getting there. and every day is a new day, and every day, i should be getting better. and so as long as i am moving forward, even if it is at a tu rtle's moving forward, even if it is at a turtle's pace, i am ok with that. the england captain dylan hartley is a doubt for the must win six mations match against france next saturday. he has been struggling with muscle tightness in a leg and will be assessed daily. england wingerjack nowell is definitely out of the rest of the tournament with an ankle problem. he's been used as a replacement so far, but scored against italy

on the opening weekend and also featured against wales and scotland. flanker sam underhill has a toe problem and will miss the france match. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. will perry will be here. good afternoon and evening. you deserve it. not sure about that! no, neither am i! thank you very much. the kremlin says russia has "no information" on what could have caused the incident. it has accused foreign secretary borisjohnson over wild it has accused foreign secretary boris johnson over wild speculation. richard galpin takes a look at any motives there might have been. sergei skripal and his daughter, yulia, now fighting for their lives, are not the only russians in britain who may have been targeted for assassination by moscow.

it was proved the former spy alexander litvinenko was poisoned by radioactive polonium in london 12 years ago. and an inquest is continuing into the mysterious death in surrey of this whistle—blower, alexander perepilichny. this is the moment in 2004 when sergei skripal was arrested in russia for betraying his country. he was a military intelligence officer who had been secretly supplying mi6 with information and was convicted for high treason. but after several years in prison, he was pardoned and able to fly to britain as part of a spy swap. but that was never a guarantee that he would be safe here. the fact that he was a british spy, a former member of the russian military, in the minds of most russians, they would categorise him as a traitor. so, yes, there would be, and there are, people there who would be delighted to see him dead. from the kremlin today, a guarded response. it said what had happened

was a tragedy and it was open to co—operating with the british authorities. but for many russians living here in the uk, who oppose the kremlin, it has been clear for a long time that they are vulnerable and they want greater protection. we need to be sure that people receiving political asylum here are completely safe, and the state that provided this asylum needs to be more serious, particularly now, after what happened to this sergei and his friend, or partner. meanwhile, back in moscow, vladimir putin is almost guaranteed to win yet another term in office in the presidential election later this month. the british inquiry into the death of alexander litvinenko concluded that mr putin probably ordered the assassination, something the kremlin denies.

the question now is whether there has been another killing in this country ordered by the russian state. richard galpin, bbc news. earlier, keir pritchard, temporary chief constable of wiltshire, gave an update to the police investigation. as you are aware, we declared a major incident yesterday after a man and woman were taken seriously ill in 62 on sunday. they both remain in a critical condition and our thoughts and best wishes remain with theirfamilies during thoughts and best wishes remain with their families during this difficult time. a full multi agency response was activated and currently involves public health england, the nhs, local authorities in both swindon and wiltshire and a wide range of partners. this has been a fast—paced investigation and our focus has

partners. this has been a fast—paced investigation and ourfocus has been on trying to establish what has caused these people to become critically ill. and whether or not criminal activity has taken place. since sunday, we had access to a wide range of specialist resources and services that have been working alongside us. you will be aware this afternoon the metropolitan police have confirmed that due to the unusual circumstances, the counter—terrorism network will be reading this investigation, as it has the specialist capability and expertise to do so. it is important to reiterate they have not declared this is a terrorist incident. as at this is a terrorist incident. as at this stage, they are keeping an open mind as to what has happened. the advice from public health england remains that, based on the evidence, currently, there does not appear to be any immediate risk to the public. we can confirm that a small number

of emergency services personnel, including some officers and staff, we re including some officers and staff, were assessed immediately after the incident. i would like to sincerely thank members of the public for their continued assistance and for respecting the cordons which remain in place in and around the salisbury area. i would also like to thank our partners, stuff from supporting agencies and our officers, staff and volu nteers agencies and our officers, staff and volunteers for their dedication and ha rd volunteers for their dedication and hard work over the last few days. i fully understand the concerns that many of our residents in salisbury and across the wider county may be feeling today and i want to again reassure you , feeling today and i want to again reassure you, i want to again reassure you, i want to again reassure you, i want to again reassure you that does not appear to be any immediate risk to the public. during this time, it is vital that we continue to provide an increased policing presence in the salisbury

city area as i believe this plays an important part in helping to reassure our communities. that was keir pritchard with an update on the police investigation. joining me now from our studio in bristol is richard guthrie, chemical weapons expert and former project lead at the stockholm international peace research institute. thank you for being with us. first, the police investigation, we gather whatever this substance was is being examined by scientists, how difficult will it be for them to identify what it was? it should not bea identify what it was? it should not be a technically difficult problem to identify what the substance is. the more challenging question is, can they identify any characteristic to say where it has been derived from manufactured ? to say where it has been derived from manufactured? that will give you tremendous clues as to who might have carried out this act. what your suspicions, is your theory about who may have carried this out? well, i think it is obvious that many people

looking back to previous cases such as that of alexander litvinenko. there is also the possibility that somebody might carry out a malicious act in order to make it look like the russians were carrying out the sort of activity again. that would be particularly dangerous. it is very ha rd to be particularly dangerous. it is very hard to establish what will be the motivations for carrying out such a high—profile thing, other than at suppression of power. this is not a subtle, discreet attempt to dispose of the past dissident or traitor in the eyes of russia. this isa traitor in the eyes of russia. this is a very high profile expression of, we have the power to do this. that is in itself quite disturbing. so just by that is in itself quite disturbing. sojust by using that is in itself quite disturbing. so just by using some sort of poison, if that is what it does turn out to be, that is an expression of power? i suppose whoever was responsible could have just shot their victims. but in a sense, using

quite an elaborate technique, does say something? it says, we don't mind that you can see that we are doing this. weise cae —— we feel so confident, we are not concerned you can see what we are doing. that is very worrying. there have been passed assassinations to poison that has been much more low—key. 40 years ago, a bulgarian dissident died having been injected with a palette while he was standing on waterloo bridge. if it had not been for some very good medical work followed up by detective work, people would never have realised, he would just have died from an unexplained illness. this is much more open and, to use a modern phrase, it in your face. there has been a track record of russia down the decades going back a long time really trying to assassinate opponents abroad on foreign soil. you think back to

trotsky being killed in mexico. yes, and other regimes do it. and quite often, if you are trying to get rid often, if you are trying to get rid of someone, it is quite convenient for them to be ill overseas and it makes it look like you are not acting. a classic case of that is an anti—apartheid activist who, when he left south africa on a trip in the 19805, left south africa on a trip in the 1980s, the apartheid regime intercepted his suitcase at the airport and they sprayed the inside of his underwear with nerve agent, a camcorder and, in order that he then beat ill overseas and they were hoping he would pass away overseas so it would not look like the south african regime had done anything. he was very african regime had done anything. he was very lucky that he was in a city with very good medical facilities when he fell ill. an incident like this, very difficult for ordinary police and detectives to investigate, so not surprising that anti—terror police from the metropolitan police have taken

control although it has not been declared a terrorist incident. control although it has not been declared a terrorist incidentm does not sound like a terrorist incident, but it will be a very intensive operation. a number of basic things will be going on like going through cctv footage. tracking the movements of any interested persons. which are very standard police activities. but they will need to be done very intensively and relatively quickly. and so a small relatively quickly. and so a small relatively small force like wiltshire police, it is more advisable to have a national team taking over the roles and responsibilities. and it will take time to establish the details. that happens with all the sort of investigation. when we look back at this ina investigation. when we look back at this in a month or a year, it will be much more important the details have been got correctly rather than, we learned certain things on tuesday or thursday. we need a bit of patience at this point. it is good

taught you, thank you. richard guthrie, chemicalweapons taught you, thank you. richard guthrie, chemical weapons expert. russia says one of its military transport planes has crashed in syria, killing 32 people. it's not yet clear where the crash hapened, or what caused the plane to come down. in the rebel—held enclave of eastern ghouta, meanwhile, more than 780 civilians — including 170 children — are believed to have died since the syrian government started its latest offensive over two weeks ago. yolande knell has been to a refugee camp in lebanon, where families are waiting for news. this refugee camp is deeply affected by syria's latest deadly battles. every family here comes from besieged eastern ghouta. relatives back home are constantly on their minds. translation: they cannot move because of the attacks, they are terrified. they spend day and night in basements. this is a disaster. i call on the world to save our children. she lost two brothers,

onejust days ago. people come and give their condolences and i am burning inside as i mention my brother, she says. her husband is devastated, ibrahim, by what he sees. this was yesterday, in ghouta. translation: the news is terrible, air strikes, bombings, rockets, massive destruction of houses and people being killed. it is protest songs, not cartoons, that the children in the camp watch online. how is the camp? many refugees have spent five

difficult years here. it is a long time to be living in a tent with poor sewage and little water, she tells me. now these syrians are pessimistic about their future and what is happening in eastern ghouta. translation: every minute is a minute of pain for us, we cry over every new loss. we just hope that this war and the bombing will soon be over. but there is no sign of that and, for now, for these children of eastern ghouta, this camp will have to remain home. yolande knell, bbc news, in lebanon. in a moment, the business news. first, a look at the headlines on afternoon live. after the suspected poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter in salisbury, counter—terrorism police take

over the investigation. the scene in salisbury remains cordoned off — borisjohnson says the government will do what was necessary if russia is found to be involved. north korea's leader, kimjong—un, says he will discuss giving up his nuclear weapons, as long as there is no military threat to his state. hello. the head of vauxhall says its ellesmore port operation the takeover of uk engineering giant gkn should be blocked — according to a group of 16 mps who have written to the business secretary. melrose industries, who say

they specialise in the acquisition and performance improvement of manufacturing businesses, has offered £7.4 billion for gkn, one of the uk's largest industrial firms. the pensions regulator has warned that a take over could affect gkn's ability to fund its pension scheme. harley davidson motorbikes, bourbon whiskey and levi jeans are among the us goods that could be hit by eu taxes if the us imposes import tariffs on steel and aluminium. the bbc understands that the eu has drawn up a target list of 100 us goods worth £2.5 billion. the list was circulated to the 28 eu—member governments on monday, and eu commissioners are expected to discuss the proposals tomorrow. to make us all feeljealous now! the forbes billionaire list is out — who's up and who is down? it is billionaires, millionaires do not come into it! the magazine's 32nd annual ranking of the world's billionaires.

first place goes to founder and boss of online giant amazon, jeff bezos. his fortune has leapt to $112bn from an estimated $39.2bn last year. so his stocks have been working hard. his personal fortune? yes, hard. his personalfortune? yes, that is how much he is worth! how do you spend it? not on hair implants! next, bill gates — microsoft founder bill gates, whose estimated wealth is $90bn this year, up from $86bn. then us investment superstar warren buffett, who is worth $84bn, is third. his fortune is up from $75.6bn a year earlier. big headline is donald trump — fallen 222 places on the forbes annual rich list, after his estimated worth of $3.5bn fell to $3.1bn. and we will discuss that now.

joining me now is luisa kroll, assistant managing editor at forbes. thank you forjoining us. start with donald trump — in the past, he has challenged the figures you have put for his wealth — how do you calculate it? well, we spend hours and hours, but now we have a special donald trump tea m now we have a special donald trump team run by one of our absolutely best reporters. i cannot tell you the amount of time and the number of people that we speak to two really scrub these numbers and feel very confident. again, we take it very seriously, especially since he's the president of the united states and we know he is going to have a response some point. let's mention forbes, —— bezos, a dramatic increase in his fortune. the increases 39.2 billion and since we have been tracking global wealth,

thatis have been tracking global wealth, that is the biggest one—year gain. and one of the others was his fortune must year which has essentially more than doubled in two yea rs, essentially more than doubled in two years, it is crazy! almost all his fortune is held in his arm is on stop. the record-breaking 2,000 to made billionaires on the list this year, the rich just made billionaires on the list this year, the richjust getting richer? the rich are very much getting richer and the top 20 are getting crazily richer. as a group, they represent less than 1%, but their fortu nes represent less than 1%, but their fortunes of 30% of the money the billionaires control. just 20 people by themselves control so much of the wealth around the globe. from forbes, thank you very much for your time. i wonder how many billionaires played like that when they were kids! you're going to talk about that now. yes, lego have said they have made

too many bricks, contaminate you reckon they a year? billions. 30 billion. double it. and at another 15! you are testing my maths! 75 billion lego bricks or sold every year and last year, they said they made too many bricks which is a scenario many pa rents would many bricks which is a scenario many parents would be familiar with walking around the living room in bare feet! they have said the problem is, sales and profits have fallen for the first time in 13 yea rs fallen for the first time in 13 years and lego is a reliable and trustworthy com pa ny years and lego is a reliable and trustworthy company and we usually see a steady increase every year, it is the first time it has fallen in 13 years, revenue down by 8%. they say it is because they made too much and they have had to sell more at reduced prices which is something lego rarely does. the chief executive has said performance did

improve towards the end of the year and we are seeing increasing sales in asia and a strong potential in their business in china so i think they will be all right. so they just they will be all right. so theyjust need to cut down how many bricks they make? yes, how many are scattered around my house! your kids like them! these are the markets. this is a lot to do with the trade war threatening in the background, donald trump announcing increased tariffs last week. and the eu coming back with what they can slap taxes on. this may not m m 75 . ..., evidence from gkn and hearing evidence from gkn and melrose bosses over a potential hostile takeover bid. i wg, it will explain that when media markets in one hour. 0k, one hour. ok, thank you very much indeed. just creeping up towards the top of

the hour. the former bbc breakfast presenter bill turnbull has revealed that he's suffering from prostate cancer. the 62—year—old broadcaster says he was diagnosed at the end of last year and that he wants to encourage men to get tested. our medical correspondent, fergus walsh, reports. there were some moments there that i had forgotten about entirely. bill turnbull on his last day on bbc breakfast in 2016, after presenting the programme for 15 years. a star of many shows, among them strictly, he tweeted the news that he was diagnosed with prostate and bone cancer last november. he added... i will place that there. that's so sweet! the diagnosis came when he was recording a special celebrity bake off for stand up to cancer, which begins tonight.

in an interview, he said... in an interview in the radio times, bill urges men symptoms that might indicate prostate cancer, which will affect one in eight men. the key symptoms are any very rapid changes to how often you go to the toilet to urinate, any pain when you do, or pain generally in the pelvic area. those symptoms might not be cancer, they probably are not, but they would potentially suggest there is an issue and men should go to their gp if they have any symptoms. bill says he's still working and does not want to be defined by his illness. he adds, although cancer will shorten his life, his consultant's ambition is, he will see another 18 years. and our very best wishes to build.

time for a look at the weather. a cool afternoon in northern scotla nd a cool afternoon in northern scotland and a temperature spread. mild air towards the south, temperatures in double figures, some sunshine and showers. continuing through the evening rush hour. to east anglia and is towards the south—west of england and wales. and snow falling through the evening across parts of the north grampians and northern highlands. that moves away through tonight. some showers tonight in northern ireland, and back into western parts of scotland, western england and wales and the channel islands. most of you having a dry night with good breaks in the cloud, leading to a frost and patchy fog tomorrow morning. way from that, a much brighter start tomorrow, it could be icy in some spots. showers continuing in northern ireland, the

west of scotland, rain, hale, we and snow. rain showers towards the wales and south—west but heavy rain in east anglia and the south east. we will keep you updated. hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm ben brown. today at 4.00pm. after the suspected poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter in salisbury, counter—terrorism police take over the investigation. sergei and yulia skripal were found two days ago slumped on a bench — they are in a critical condition. our focus has been on trying

to establish what has caused these people to become critically ill and whether or not criminal activity has taken place. the scene in salisbury remains cordoned off. borisjohnson says the government will act if russia is found to be involved. i can reassure the house that should evidence emerge that implies state responsibility, then her majesty's government will respond appropriately and robustly. north korea's leader, kimjong—un, says he will discuss giving up his nuclear weapons — as long as there is no military e» — later—m e» , laterfor~~~~ g later for - thank you. matt taylor has all the weather.

more know snow behind you? yes with have. which season will win into the weekend. i will have your forecast later. let us hope it's the sunshine. britain should go on a diet — health officials urge food manufacturers to cut the calories in their products. hello everyone, this is afternoon live, i'm ben brown. counter—terrorism police have taken charge of the inquiry into the suspected poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter in salisbury. they say at this stage they're keeping an open mind about what happened. sergei skripal was found slumped on a bench in the city centre on sunday, alongside 33—year—old yulia skripal. both remain in a critical

condition in intensive care after being treated for suspected exposure to an unknown substance. a restaurant and a pub in salisbury have been cordoned off, and one member of the emergency services is also still in hospital. the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, says the uk will respond "robustly" if there's any evidence of russian involvement. richard lister reports. two figures, believed to be sergei skripal and his daughter, yulia, caught on cctv on sunday. within hours, they'd be fighting for their lives, poisoned by an unknown substance. there was a man slumped over on the bench, being sick. i was told that there was a woman on the floor, but i couldn't see because there was paramedics around. but the man he saw has a complex past, mr skripal is a russian convicted of spying for the west before coming to the uk. wiltshire police are still examining the area outside a shopping centre where he and his daughter were found unconscious but counter

terror officers are now leading this investigation. due to the unusual circumstances, the counter—terrorism network will be leading this investigation as it has the specialist capability and expertise to do so. it is important to reiterate, they have not declared this as a terrorist incident. as at this stage, they are keeping an open mind as to what has happened. the ministry of defence laboratory has confirmed it's received samples of the substance thought to have been involved in this incident. it has the facilities to test highly toxic compounds. with a mystery poisonious substance involved, tracing the pair's movements is a priority. after taping off the area around the maltings shopping centre, where they were found, police then secured the zizzi restaurant as a precaution. today, they said the bishops mill pub in the centre of salisbury had

also been sealed off. sergei and yulia skripal are still in a critical condition at salisbury hospital. it was also confirmed today that some emergency services personnel at the scene on sunday were also taken to hospital for assessment. all but one has since been released and the authorities believe there's no wider threat. but parallels with the 2006 poisoning of alexander litvinenko are hard to ignore — a russian dissident, he was poisoned by a radioactive compound. an inquiry said he was probably murdered by the kremlin. the russian embassy today complained of "speculative stories" which it said were "demonising russia." but the government has now put moscow on notice. while it would be wrong to prejudge the investigation, i can reassure the house that should evidence emerge that implies state responsibility, then her majesty's government will respond appropriately and robustly. the first pictures have now emerged at 33—year—old yulia skripal, who was visiting her father

from russia when they fell ill. they may be able to shed some light on what happened to them on sunday, but they remain gravely ill. richard lister, bbc news. we can now speak to our correspondent, leila nathoo, who's in salisbury. what is the scene there now and what are the police up to? there is still some police activity going on behind this row of vans there is a police tent still in place. the bench where the couple were discovered is under a police tent. there is some limited police activity. a cordon is still in place, as you can see, around this whole scare square. that what would be a busy shopping precinct in the middle of the city. the investigation is now being led by national counter terror police. wiltshire police have handed over control of that investigation due to the unusual circumstances, in their words. the fact that counter terror

police will have the capabilities and resource to handle an investigation like this. it clearly has a number of political implications. as we've been hearing, the foreign secretary, boris johnson, using strong language in the commons. although nothing has yet been confirmed. the latest update we had from police is that the two are still in a critical condition in hospital. the police themselves are not formally confirming the identity of sergei skripal and yulia skripal but boris johnson has in the commons. the substance is still being tested. the unnope substance the two were exposed to and caused them to colla pse exposed to and caused them to collapse and fall unconscious. that is being tested. police will be waiting to determine what caused them to fall so ill. what about the people who live there in salisbury and use the shops around there. they must be in a state of shock about what has happened there? there is a sense of shock today. there is a big

media presence this afternoon in salisbury. i think there has been a bit of a curiosity and intrigue that this town has found itself, the city rather, has founded itself at the centre of all this attention. a lot of people gathering around bemused about what is going on. they wouldn't havening imagined the city being the centre of this sort of story. police are trying to reassure the public saying there is no immediate threat or immediate risk to public health. health officials saying that has been contained. this location was decontaminated very quickly after the two were found collapsed. we saw police in hazardous material body suits, protective suits, clearing away that material. i think at the moment the focus is really on determining what that substance was to try to understand whatogical happened. that substance was to try to understand whatogical happenedm thank you. the kremlin say it is's willing to

co—operate but russia has no information on what could have caused this incident. we look now at any motives there may have been. sergei skripal and his daughter, yulia, now fighting for their lives, are not the only russians in britain who may have been targeted for assassination by moscow. it was proved the former spy alexander litvinenko was poisoned by radioactive polonium in london 12 years ago. and an inquest is continuing into the mysterious death in surrey of this whistle—blower, alexander perepilichny. this is the moment in 2004 when sergei skripal was arrested in russia for betraying his country. he was a military intelligence officer who had been secretly supplying mi6 with information and was convicted for high treason. but after several years in prison, he was pardoned and able to fly to britain as part of a spy swap. but that was never a guarantee that he would be safe here. the fact that he was a british spy, a former member of the russian military, in the minds of most russians, they would

categorise him as a traitor. so, yes, there would be, and there are, people there who would be delighted to see him dead. from the kremlin today, a guarded response. it said what had happened was a tragedy and it was open to co—operating with british authorities. but for many russians living here in the uk, who oppose the kremlin, it has been clear for a long time that they are vulnerable and they want greater protection. we need to be sure that people receiving political asylum here are completely safe, and the state that provided this asylum needs to be more serious, particularly now, after what happened to this sergei and his friend or partner. meanwhile, back in moscow, vladimir putin is almost guaranteed to win yet another term in office in the presidential election later this month. the british inquiry into the death of alexander litvinenko concluded that mr putin probably ordered the assassination, something the kremlin denies. the question now is whether there has been another killing in this country ordered by the russian state.

richard galpin, bbc news. a spokesman for the prime minister said she was updated on the investigation into what happened in salisbury on sunday at a national security council meeting. the prime minister has been updated a spokesman also saying the prime minister will not prejudge the facts on what happened in salisbury. that the investigation is ongoing. that's the investigation is ongoing. that's the latest in terms of what the government are doing about all of this. a spokesman for the russian foreign ministry described borisjohnson's comments in the commons today as "wild." we can speak to the bbc‘s russian service correspondent in moscow for us. what has been the reaction in moscow to these extraordinary events? very muted. nothing at all comparable to the

amount of coverage it's getting in the uk. the day started with the presidential spokesman saying russia had no idea what mr skripal was up after he was sent to the west from russia, exchanged for a group of russian spies coming from america. that was pretty much it. the second person speaking was of the litvinenko murderframe. person speaking was of the litvinenko murder frame. he person speaking was of the litvinenko murderframe. he who denies any involvement who said that this new twist is perhaps just another attempt to paint russia with black. russian embassy spoke in similar terms. the representative of the foreign ministry said what boris johnson said about uk's robust response in case of all this proving is wilderness, is ignorance. all in all, this is a muted response. it follows similar response to

different scandals. russia is keeping kwie etc saying there are no fa cts keeping kwie etc saying there are no facts to prove anything. thank you very much. we will leave it there we are having a few sound problems, as you could hear there, from moscow. the leader of north korea, kim jong—un, has agreed to meet his south korean counterpart, moon jae—in, on the heavily fortified border next month. it will be the first ever meeting between the two leaders and the first meeting of two korea leaders for more than a decade. the summit was arranged at a meeting between mr kim and a south korean delegation, which has just returned from pyongyang. seoul correspondent, laura bicker, explains how significant this development might be. it could be hugely significant. we expected maybe the odd headline to come from this meeting. it was held in pyongyang, adinner hosted by kimjong—un

the first time he met ministers from the south. as they've returned, they have come out with a flurry of headlines. first of all, you mentioned that potential meeting between the two in april, but then came the bomb shell, if you will, north korea has told the delegates from the south that they are willing to talk about getting rid of their nuclear weapons. they've said as long as the safety of the regime can be guaranteed, and they are willing to talk about that denuclearisation with the united states. this is potentially a huge opening for diplomacy to work on this peninsula. also, they've said that during talks they will not test any more missiles. now when it comes to pyongyang and kimjong—un, many here feel it should not be trusted. its part of pyongyang's play book. it's been seen before. they will perhaps walk up to the table, talk about

getting rid of their nuclear weapons and walk away again. many feel they might be trying to buy time. trying to get rid of international sanctions. here there is a quiet feeling of optimism. they have learned, after over 60 years of ups and downs, not to get too optimistic. there is a feeling that president moon, who campaigned on engaging with the north, has managed to win a diplomatic victory. donald trump has been tweeting about this in the last few moments he said, "possible progress being made in talks with north korea for the first time in many years a serious effort is being made by all parties concerned. the world is watching and waiting. maybe false hope, but the us is ready to go hard in either direction." not only is the us prepared to talk, but it is prepared to take action if necessary. you're watching afternoon live,

these are our headlines counter—terrorism police take over the investigation into the suspected poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter. the foreign secretary says the government will act if russia is found to be involved. north korea's leader kim jong—un says he will discuss giving up jong—un says he will discuss giving up his nuclear weapons as long as there's no military threat to his country. and in sport, lord coe says he did not mislead a parliamentary select committee when asked whether he knew about historic russian doping and corruption but the iaaf president says that his organisation will maintain the ban on russia taking part in their events. serena williams says don't expect too much from her on her return to tennis this week. the 23 times grand slam singles winner hasn't played on the singles tourfor 14 months and had herfirst child six months ago. she'll play on the wta

tour at indian wells and england's jack nowell has been ruled out of next weekends six nation's match against france. the exeter wing has come off the bench in all three games so far i'll be back with more on those stores at 4.30pm. see you then. the russian military in syria has offered rebels what it calls safe passage out of the besieged enclave of eastern ghouta. more than 780 civilians — including 170 children — are believed to have died there since the syrian government started its latest offensive over two weeks ago. yolande knell has been to a refugee camp in lebanon, where families are waiting for news. every family here comes from besieged area. relatives are co nsta ntly besieged area. relatives are constantly on their minds. translation: they can't move because

of the attacks. they are terrified. they spend day and night in basements. this is a disaster. i call on the world to save our children. this woman lost two brothers, one just days ago. translation: people come and give their condolences and i'm burning inside as i mention my brother.m this man is devastated by what he say sees. this is yesterday in ghouta. translation: the news is terrible. air strikes, bombings, rockets, massive destruction of houses and people being killed. it's protests songs not cartoons that the children

in this camp watch online. how is the camp? many refugees have now spent five difficult years here. it's a long time to be living in a tent with poor sewage and little water. these syrians are pessimistic about their future and what's happening in eastern ghouta. translation: every minute is a minute of pain for us. we cry at every new loss. we just hope that this war and the bombing will soon be over. but there's no sign of that. for now, for these children of eastern ghouta, this camp will have too remain home. more detail on what the government response is to the

incident in salisbury. the suspected poisoning of that former russian spy and his daughter in salisbury. we are hearing that the prime minister and senior ministers and other government officials have been updated on what is going on in salisbury on the investigation there. a meeting of the national security council it has been meeting in the cabinet room, apparently today. the prime minister's officials spokesman said, "the national security council meeting fold a meeting of senior government officials across whitehall." that was earlier on today. a lot of government activity in response to what happened there in salisbury. a number of people spoke at the security council meeting today, including the prime minister. the prime minister's spokesman was asked why there was a need for an update from the national security council. a spokesman said, "the circumstances of this incident are so unusual that the prime minister and senior ministers were updated." a sense

really that in whitehall, across whitehall, there's a lot of activity. you can see the police activity. you can see the police activity going on in terms of the investigation into that incident in salisbury. in other news... thousands of people are without water for a third day in parts of the uk after frozen pipes burst in the recent thaw from cold weather. water companies have continued work to restore supplies to homes and businesses in london, kent, sussex and wales. the industry regulator ofwat said suppliers had "fallen well short" on forward planning. britain is suffering an obesity epidemic, and the country needs to go on a diet. that's the message from public health england, which has told food companies they must cut the calories in their products within six years. joining me now via webcam is susan jebb, professor of diet and population health at the university of oxford and is the government's advisor on obesity. is this really a question of the food companies doing much more or is it individuals who need to do much

more to cut their calorie intake? well, it's a combination of the two. well, it's a combination of the two. we know that in britain two—thirds of adults are overweight and that can't just be down of adults are overweight and that can'tjust be down to a national colla pse can'tjust be down to a national collapse in willpoower something in the environment has changed. food is so available, often in large portions and remarkably cheaply a lot of the time. it's really tempting and easy to over eat. we need the food industry to take a bit more responsibility. to serve us with particularly appropriate portions of food. so that whatever we eat, we get it in a sensible sized amount. do you think the food companies will do that? the target isi companies will do that? the target is i think 20% cut by 2024? are they going to accept that? it may well cut into their profits? well i think that food companies increasingly recognise that they do need to get involved in this issue. i think that what many of them are trying to do

is to help turn consumers around a little bit so we focus on quality and less on quantity. the most successful food businesses are those that are have healthy products because that actually is what consumers want. most people want to eat healthily. most people don't wa nt to eat healthily. most people don't want to be overweight. but at the moment it's really quite hard for anybody most moment it's really quite hard for anybody i people - most "i day. a“ day. so food minute of every day. so food businesses which start to help us do what it is we want to do, eat more healthily, i think will see the market rewarding them. is it about the meals we eat, breakfast, lunch and dinnerand the the meals we eat, breakfast, lunch and dinner and the snacks we eat between those meals? it's about all of that. one of the reasons why helping people to change their diet is so challenging is because we all eat very differently. we have very different eating habits. some people who are snackers clearly, that's the

first place to look. look hot how many biscuits, cakes or chocolate, whatever is your weakness, are slipping in between meals. for other people they are eating too much at meal time. it may be healthy food, but they are just eating an awful lot of it. getting calorie control with their meals is really going to matter. what public health england are trying to do today is to say, firstly, food industry — help us out here. stop serving huge portions. we don't need to be over served. let's get a don't need to be over served. let's geta grip don't need to be over served. let's get a grip on calories in food. secondly, they are saying to consumers, you need to be a little bit more calorie conscious. not calorie counting, but you need to be aware of the amount of calories in the food you're eating. if we start working together, actually we can make a big difference. ok. thank you very much. some news in that one of

the two lorry drivers involved in a motorway crash that left eight people dead on the m1 motorway has been convicted at reading crown court of causing death by dangerous driving. we will bring you more on that as it comes into us. that is one of two lorry drivers involved in a motorway crash leaving eight people dead on the m #167, ryszard masierak. —— m1. a murder investigation's under way for a woman found dead at her home in twickenham yesterday evening. the woman, believed to be in her 405, was found with stab injuries. scotland yard detectives looking to find her two boys, aged seven and ten, and her missing husband, 57, were told by sussex police yesterday that the bodies of a man and two children were found

at eastbourne seafront, east sussex. our correspondent, tolu adeoye, is in twickenham. what is the latest? what are police there saying? there is a police presence here in twickenham. you can't see the property from the road. it is set back slightly. it was yesterday, before 6.00pm, when police were called here to south road. somebody race raised concerns over the welfare of the family who live in the property set back behind the police van there. police forced their way inside and found this woman in her 405 having suffered sta b woman in her 405 having suffered stab wounds shech was pronounced dead at the scene. they started making urgent inquiries about the welfare about the rest of her family. a man aged 57, two boys, one aged ten and seven. in east sussex, 90 miles away in eastbourne, sussex

police discovered the the bodies of a man and two young boys.s they contacted the met and and this is when the link was made. it understands the woman here was connected to the family. no arrest have been made. no post—mortem has taken place. have been made. no post—mortem has ta ken place. the have been made. no post—mortem has taken place. the woman was found with stab wound. the man and boys we re with stab wound. the man and boys were found an hour before she was discovered. this is being treated as a you ared mer investigation with regard to the woman who was found in the property behind me. thank you very much indeed for that. more on the incident in salisbury. the suspected poisoning of the former russian spy and his daughter. we just had reaction from the russian embassy in london on their website. they are saying, "the situation

regarding the hospitalisation of sergei skripal and another person as described by the british media causes serious concern. as of today the russian embassy are saying the police and other british authorities have not provided the embassy with any official information regarding this incident. the foreign office has not given any notifications either, but the media are swiftly launching a new phase of the anti—russian campaign that is ongoing in the united kingdom. readers are offered various speculations which ultimately lead toa speculations which ultimately lead to a vilification of russia. although uk law enforcement agencies have not given sub standive comments on this. we believe that the british authorities and law enforcement bodies should step in immediately

and inform the embassy and british society about the actual circumstances of this incident so as to end the demonisation of russia. with this in mind the embassy has turned to the foreign office for clarification." all of that from the russian embassy in london. quite angry about the speculation in the media about whether the russian authorities in moscow might have had authorities in moscow might have had a hand in this suspected poisoning in as burpy. talking about the demonisation of russia. —— salisbury. the russian embassy saying it's completely untrue. now we can check out the weather. what is that in the screen behind you, is there still more snow it was thick with snow by saturday,

the snow had gone, and that process continued across much of england and wales and northern ireland. but we saw massive snow drifts towards the end of the week and into the weekend and storm —— and take a look at this shot from cumbria earlier on. this house was almost covered by snow. it shows how much snow covered places. still fighting to do them out. there have been raf army operations to get to some of the remote spots. and as well as having your house covered, you can just see the snow started to fall off the top of the roof. and you can see how high the drifts were. heavy machinery has been required and still areas will need to be dug out and there will be some still covered in snow for a number of days. the thaw has come at a cost. all that water has to get back

into the ground and the rivers. we have seen river levels rise. this was taken in durham. and with heavy rain forecast for the weekend, we have to watch for flooding. it still snow around. and this afternoon, across parts of scotland, it has been a very wintry theme with more heavy snow falling, 10—15 centimetres on the tops of the grampians and in the eastern highlands. temperatures here have struggled, like we have two seasons. winter across the north and spring setting in further south with temperatures in double figures and some sunshine. showers around at the moment. southern parts of england and east anglia and towards the west, the snow continues through the evening across the grampians and highlands. heavy rain across the coast and that snow when it does eventually melt will raise the river levels. tonight, snow fizzles out across much of scotland. some

showers around the west and south. inland, clear skies around compared with the past couple of nights, it will be colder with temperatures dropping below freezing and you will be close to freezing for frost and ice into the morning. mostly, a dry and bright today on wednesday. southeast and east anglia, showers working north and east, could be lengthy bursts of rain. showers into the west, with hale mixed in towards south—west england. northern ireland, scotland, sleet and snow and showers of a higher ground. big improvement. and and a steady start toa improvement. and and a steady start to a long thaw for some. low pressure remains and into thursday morning, frost again, it weather front in northern france develops. the channel islands get a wet today, but that could be further north across southern counties. keep checking the forecast if that is crucial. after a frosty start, and other day sunshine, some showers, wintry over higher ground, but for

many, rain will fall, but most places dry, with temperatures around where they should be for the time of year. friday, another frosty where they should be for the time of year. friday, anotherfrosty start with heavy rain from the style late in the day. that could bring very wet weather on friday night, into the weekend. but a milder pushes north, snow for a time in scotland, northern england and northern ireland and that fizzles out by sunday leading to sunshine for many. that is it, goodbye for now. this is bbc news. our latest headlines: counter—terrorism police have now ta ken over the investigation into the suspected poisoning of former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter, yulia. borisjohnson has said the uk would respond "robustly" to any evidence of russian involvement. north korea's leader, kimjong—un, says he will discuss giving up his nuclear weapons, as long as there is no military threat to his state.

the leaders of north and south korea are due to meet at a summit next month. the parents of 21—month—old all the evidence have been refused permission to appeal against the decision against ending his life support, they want to take abroad for treatment but doctors say it would be futile. britain should go on a diet — health officials urge food manufacturers to cut the calories in their products. it is all part of a drive to cut calorie consumption by 20% by 2024. sport now on afternoon live. will parry has got that. we've heard from lord coe this afternoon. yes, we heard at length from bradley wiggins defending those claims against him in the dcms report that was published yesterday. now lord coe, one of the most influential and powerful men in global sport, in his role as president of the iaaf, was accused

of misleading that committee, when they were trying to get to the bottom of exactly what he knew four years ago, when dave bedford — the london marathon race director — flagged up some alleagtions of russian doping and a possible iaaf cover up via email and telephone four years ago. at the time, coe said he didn't open the email attachments and that bedford didn't go into any details on the phone. the dcms say that stretches credibility. but speaking today, coe said he did not mislead the committee, wouldn't change any of the answers he gave and defended his record in the fight against doping. everything that we have done in the sport — the 200 changes, the suspension of the russian federation, the journey that we've taken in the last two years — tells me we're in much better shape than we were two years ago. it's for others to judge what we've done, but it's not what i say, i think it's what we've actually achieved as a sport. so, no, our sport not in tatters, it is extremely strong. we want exactly what that group

members of parliament want, which is the eradication of drugs in sport and a road map to that. i think we have provided a road map, not just at a national level, but i think it's become a template. yes, the dcms busy at the moment. what else has lord coe been saying? coe was speaking at the conclusion of a two day iaaf council meeting after the world indoor athletics championships in birmingham and, last week, we saw the internationl olympic committee readmit russia at the close of the winter games, the iaaf have upheld their ban. they were the only federation to blanket—ban russian atheltes at the rio olympics. and we saw russians, who could prove that they were clean and had operated outside the old russian state—sponsored doping system, competing in birmingham. mariya lasitskene and danil lysenko both won gold, but only as authorised neutral athletes. serena williams will return to the wta tour tomorrow

at the indian wells tournament in the us. the fomer world number one has only played one competitive doubles match in the last 14 months and also had her first child six months ago. the 23—time grand slam winner warmed up at the new tie break tens exhibition event in new york. she went out in the semi—finals, but did beat another player on the comeback trail, marion bartoli. williams is just one major singles title short of margaret court's all—time record, but is trying to keep yeah, it's been hard. there's been so many days, even still, that i'm like, how am i going to keep going, you know? and it's been really, really difficult. but i keep going, and i know that i might not be at my best yet, but i'm getting there. and every day is a new day, and every day, i should be getting better. and so as long as i'm moving forward — even if it's at a turtle's pace — i'm ok with that. the england captain

dylan hartley is a doubt for the must—win six nations match against france next saturday. he has been struggling with muscle tightness in a leg and will be assessed daily. england wingerjack nowell is definitely out of the rest of the tournament with an ankle problem. he's been used as a replacement so far, but scored against italy on the opening weekend and also featured against wales and scotland. flanker sam underhill has a toe problem and will miss the france match. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. now on afternoon live, let's go nationwide and see what's happening around the country. in our daily visit to the bbc newsrooms around the uk. joining me today is nick owens, in birmingham, where there is a remarkable story of a group of teenagers, who were passionate about their local canal, took on the authorities and saved it from being closed. now, 50 years on, it's thriving in a way they could

never have imagined. tell us more, nick. hello. yes, canals were coming to the end of their useful life in the 19505 and 19605 but how things have changed! in dudley, not farfrom wolverhampton, the local canal was closed to traffic in 96 to two, a group of teenagers were distressed, it was a local playground where they hung out and it was going to be filled in. tunnels were being boarded up and a 14—year—old put a message in a bottle in the canal, so romantic! saying, let's have a meeting and talk about it in the local pub. youngsters turned up to fight the authorities and keep the canal going. they kept fishing stuff out of the water, they found old boats and they restored them, they took people on trips and opened up the tunnels, they got things up and running. and the various authorities relented and together set up a dudley canal trust and some of those

youngsters now still involved today. the caverns in the tunnel were basically a play area as a young lad, in the days before health and safety and people would walk down and play around. they would come down with candles and a rock and a playground basically. and now it's a hugely popular tourist attraction? yes, so much so that 3 million has been recently invested in the network. there is a new visitors' centre, it is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the area alongside dudley castle, which includes a zoo, and the black country living museum. we had been filming with radio broadcaster alex lester, 30 yea rs filming with radio broadcaster alex lester, 30 years a presenter with bbc radio 2 and he did chose to the night, he rarely saw him in daylight hours and when you did, he was blinking wildly! he now does a brea kfast blinking wildly! he now does a breakfast show in birmingham. he lived in a canal boat for ten years, and he still rocks a bit when you

talk to him, he has led an interesting life. he is an expert on extreme downhill cheese rolling, celery wrestling and boxing going! i tend to keep out of his way! it is ha rd to tend to keep out of his way! it is hard to keep imagining life without the canals, the midlands is packed with them. pay attention to this, birmingham does have more canals than of venice. 35 miles compared to just 26 in venice. to be fair, venice gets the better weather and slightly shades birmingham for good weather! only slightly! thank you very much. and if you would like to see more on any of those stories, you can access them via the bbc iplayer. and we go nationwide every weekday afternoon at 4:30pm on afternoon live. let's return to our main story, and the possible diplomatic response to the suspected poisoning

of a former russian spy, in wiltshire. theresa may and senior ministers have been updated on the investigation at a meeting of the national security council. our chief political correspondent, vicki young, is at the houses of parliament for us. what are you hearing from the security council meeting? the most information from the foreign secretary borisjohnson. we have been told the prime minister and serious officials met in the cabinet room to be updated. when downing street were asked why this was required, they said because this has been described as an unusual event. so the premise to being kept up—to—date. boris johnson has so the premise to being kept up—to—date. borisjohnson has talked about a robust response from the british government if it is proven that russia is behind this alleged attack. and in the house of commons today, he came under pressure from all sides to say exactly how the united kingdom would respond, how we

have responded in the past and whether enough has been done. so i am joined by the chairman of the foreign affairs select committee. do you think the government has done enough notjust you think the government has done enough not just with you think the government has done enough notjust with this case, but in previous examples, sanctions do not seem to deter president putin? we all know it is too early to tell, although seeing emergency service workers kept in hospital for observation and wearing hazardous materials suits after they have investigated this incident does not exactly fill us with confidence, frankly. especially not in the light of the litvinenko case a decade ago when a trail of polonium was loved across london. there is more we can do and! across london. there is more we can do and i welcome what the government has already done on the sergei magnitsky case, making sure the bill is holding to account people of human rights abuses in foreign countries, especially russia. but we could do more. things like unexplained wealth orders to be used against criminals, ordinary criminals, who buy houses and cars.

why are we not using those type of orders against people like the cellist who plays for mr putin and has assets north of £2 million? a lot of money from recording rights for playing a cello! that are people who say and borisjohnson alluded to it, the world cup. this is russia on the world stage, completely accepted by other countries. he talked about is not a boycott by the team, but ministers and officials not going. should we do that or go further washed up i think sport has an extremely important place as we saw in south korea in making sure we open dialogue between people. in south korea in making sure we open dialogue between peoplelj would open dialogue between people.” would urge others to make sure we do have dialogue. but the idea that we are normalising our relationship with a regime like putin's is not true. he is in the process of extracting so much wealth from one of the most beautiful countries in

the world, one of the richest in terms of culture and art and science and knowledge, this is an amazing country that quite rightly deserves its place at the top table of international affairs and should be seen as the bridge between europe and asia and quite rightly should be seen as one of the truly great foundations of modern western civilisation. but sadly, it has been taken civilisation. but sadly, it has been ta ken over by civilisation. but sadly, it has been taken over by a bunch of thugs and this is what is happening today and why we are so concerned about incidents like the incident in salisbury over the weekend. not because the incident is a huge threat to the united kingdom, it is not, it is an awful incident and tragedy for the two concerned and their families, but it demonstrates a pattern that will continue and grow unless it is stopped. that is why i support the minister for defence who has been right in calling for an increase in the defence budget. not because this is a military confrontation, but sending a signal we are prepared to

defend ourselves and stand up for what matters and our principles and our allies, that is what we must do to deter this kind of action. you talked about it as a soft war and people from the security services we re people from the security services were talking about russian interference, attacking our infrastructure and cyber attacks, what more can be done to counter that? the work done by the intelligence agencies is phenomenal and when you look at the national cyber centre on what it has been doing and resisting a lot of attacks on us for many years is impressive. it isa on us for many years is impressive. it is a soft war, it is not tanks rolling over the border or anything like that, but it is a soft progression of hostile and malign actions designed to demoralise and destabilise us and bring about independent and small crises and to normalise. and each moment is supposed to be a step, each step is supposed to be a step, each step is supposed to be a step, each step is supposed to undermine us that little bit more and that works. in doing

so, it is supposed to undermine our alliances and give russia and her friends freedom of manoeuvre not only amongst our allies, certainly in eastern europe, but also with the united kingdom itself. thank you very much. those views being a express very much. those views being a ex press a cross very much. those views being a express across the house today. some people are saying the way that president putin is being treated is similarto president putin is being treated is similar to the way the nazis were treated in the 19305. we have had a response from a spokesperson for the russian embassy here, saying that the british authorities have not provided the russian embassy with any official information and they say the media are launching a new phase of the anti—russian campaign ongoing. so the embassy having none of it really. vicky, thank you. in a moment, the business news. first, a look at the headlines on afternoon live. counter—terrorism police take over the investigation into the suspected

poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter. the foreign secretary says the government will act if russia is found to be involved. north korea's leader, kimjong—un, says he will discuss giving up his nuclear weapons, as long as there is no military threat to his state. hello. the head of vauxhall says its ellesmore port operation is under threat due to lack of clarity over brexit. carlos tavares — chief executive of psa, which owns vauxhall, peugeot and citroen — told the bbc, "we cannot invest in a world of uncertainty‘. the firm is to cut another 250 jobs at the cheshire plant, on top of the 400 announced in october. harley davidson motorbikes, bourbon whiskey and levi jeans are among the us goods that could be hit by eu taxes if the us imposes import tariffs on steel and aluminium. the bbc understands that the eu has drawn up a target list of 100 us goods worth £2.5 billion. the list was circulated to the 28 eu—member governments on monday,

and eu commissioners are expected to discuss the proposals tomorrow. he may still be a multi—billionaire, but us president donald trump has fallen 222 places on the forbes annual rich list, after his estimated worth of $3.5 billion fell to $3.1 billion. the magazine said the drop was partially due to a fall in the value of central new york property values and falling revenues at his golf courses. what has been moving on the markets? we were talking aboutjust eat earlier in the day — positive results with orders up and pre—tax loss down. but the share price has fallen, down 11%. many will remember whenjust eat entered the ftse100 at the end of last year — it was a significant moment

as it was one of the first consumer tech platform to do so — and at one point, its market capitalisation made it more valuable than sainsburys. cheap yen of the target of a hostile bid by melrose and both have been speaking to 16 mp5 today who said the government should try to block a hostile takeover. melrose specialised in the acquisition and importance —— performance improvement of businesses. the pensions regulator warning a ta keover pensions regulator warning a takeover could affect the firm's ability to set pay their pension scheme. and who are iwg? they are making the

headlines, they rent out office space. companies providing these facilities are seen sometimes as a barometer of how the uk economy is doing. last year, the issued a profits warning. there is a 12% fall in full—year profit, but the chief executive mark dixon has told the bbc the market has stabilised and he has used when my favourite phrases, he said, we are seeing a good demand. the frost has just come off the of the coffee, particularly in london. we'll start there with tom stevenson — investment director at fidelity international. what does he mean by that? the results were pretty poor. but as expected, we had a profits warning in october and back then, he blames the brexit effect, a lack of confidence in companies. and the model of regus, or iwg, is exposed

to the economy, because they rent space out on a short—term basis, so people are nervous, they will not ta ke people are nervous, they will not take this space. but they are operating in a very frothy property market, paying a lot of money, but a what is remaining empty because of the lack of confidence. the share price is down because of these delivery ambitions. yes, that is right. the figures were pretty good, just eat has had its share prices going up fourfold. but what investors d id going up fourfold. but what investors did not like today was the threat of new strategy. just eat has a lwa ys threat of new strategy. just eat has always been one of these tech platforms. it took orders and it gave the orders to rest rooms and the restaurant is delivered food to customers. waterjust eat wants to do now is get into the delivery game itself and the amount of money it will have to invest to do that, £50

million, will come from profits this year and investors looked shocked by that. the melrose bid for gkn is hostile and both have been giving evidence today, where do we go from here? yes, this hostile bid has turned very political and emotional, not surprisingly, gkn is one of the longest established uk companies. it made spitfires and it built the railway from london to bristol. throw in asset stripping accusations, the fact there is a 32,000 pensioners who are worried about what will happen to their pensions, this was never going to be uncontroversial. there is not much greg clark the business secretary can lean on to block this bit. i think it will come down to whether investors think that melrose, the turnaround specialists, or gkn's newish management will be best placed to get the most out of this company. and markets generally, they

seem to be trading up to their round the globe, to do with the feeling this threatens trade war everybody was concerned about last week when donald trump announced his plans to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium, it may not happen. yes, investors were very concerned by the threat of a trade war on the back of these tariffs that president trump announced. but all the trade partners around the world reacted with dismay, but so did the republicans around donald trump. and thatis republicans around donald trump. and that is probably the get out clause. i think people feel this is just donald trump speaking and there is not the support for these tariffs. tom stevenson, thank you very much for your time. all that talk of frothy coffee, i feel like i need one! the american markets were up early, they have slipped a little bit. that

increasing pressure against harris giving them relief. easy day tomorrow, the chancellor philip hammond will be talking and his speech will include details about how financial services could be included in a future trade deal with the eu, full—year results from rolls—royce and legal and general and house prices out. a busy day, you might need coffee! imight coffee! i might need more than one! thank you very much indeed. that's it from your afternoon live team for today. next, the bbc news at five. time for a look at the weather. hello. we have got milder air with sunshine and showers towards the south but in parts of scotland, this is how we began the dayjust outside glasgow. the snow working northwards and it isa sign the snow working northwards and it is a sign of the split in conditions. green colours show the milderair conditions. green colours show the milder air across england and wales and northern ireland. the

blue—collar is this afternoon show cold in place. temperatures rising across scotland into the afternoon and evening, but snow north of the central belt through the evening rush—hour. 10—15 centimetres in the northern grampians and eastern highlands, rain around the coast. showers into western part of wales this evening, optically stanley and the south east, mostly dry. tonight, rain remains across scotland as the snow eases. showers and northern ireland and to the channel islands towards the south coast of england. clearer skies tonight, greater chance of frost tomorrow morning, but for many, it brighter start. areas to watch out for with heavy showers through the south east towards east anglia. they could be further west. isolated showers in the west with hale mixed in. and wintry showers in western scotland and north of northern ireland, but mainly a and north of northern ireland, but mainlya dry and north of northern ireland, but mainly a dry and bright day with temperatures were they should be for the time of year. driving everything

is this area of low pressure into thursday. we could see a weather front developed in the north of france getting close to us on thursday, especially the channel islands, with wet weather, and the south coast of england. still some showers, snow on the high ground, mainly rain at lower levels but thursday is a pleasant day for the majority and with the sun out, that is gaining a bit of strength day by day even if temperatures in england and wales have been down. the night is cold with a frosty start on friday. wintry showers in northern scotland, dry and bright, but later in the day, heavy rain arrives towards the south—west of england and wales. tied in with milder air working its way north with a split into the start of the weekend. rain pushing north into saturday, we could see further snow in northern parts of the uk, then it turns milder with many seem a little bit of sunshine. today at 5: counter—terror officers are now leading the investigation into the suspected poisoning

of a former russian spy in wiltshire. sergei skripal and his daughter, yulia, were found slumped on a bench in salisbury on sunday, prompting a major emergency response in the immediate area. our focus has been ourfocus has been tried our focus has been tried to establish what has caused these people to become critically ill and whether or not criminal activity has taken place. the prime minister has been briefed at a meeting of the national security council, and foreign secretary borisjohnson had a warning for russia. should evidence emerge that implies state responsibility, then her majesty's government will respond appropriately and robustly. we'll be live in salisbury and westminster with the very latest.